Clash of the Elements Part 4 EX Prologue: Fallout of Destiny
by mewmaster93
Summary: A girl who who will do anything to save anything from the tyranny inflicted upon her people, a boy who wanders the world with many doubts in himself...This is the fated meeting of Alex Whiter and Shina Aurora, and the journey they will take that will change the lives of those around them forever.
1. Chapter 1

**Alex Whiter Chapter 1: The Exhausted Seclusion**

It's just any other day in the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario is once again journeying out to stop Bowser from kidnapping Peach, going through the standard grass, desert, ice, water, forest, mountain, sky and volcano lands with Luigi. Of course, the seven Koopalings, Bowser Jr. and Kamek are involved, and more than likely this is going to end with Bowser becoming gigantic. Really though, Mario had earned this simplicity after a year or so of dealing with the stuff regarding the Elemental Overlord.

It has been a year since Mr. Reality was defeated and sent packing, though in the aftermath the one who stopped him vanished off the face of the planet. Sure, he's alive if not amnesiac, but that's not something the others know about. In time though, the boy's presence became a memory and everyone went back to their lives. Mario and Luigi are saving Peach as said prior, Driad has gone on to become a teacher at Beanbean University, Mallow is being groomed as the prince of Nimbus Land, Geno still watches over the planet, but what of the two M.S.I. leaders Gemini and Alpha?

These days, Gemini continues to help train new recruits whenever Alpha is not available. These recruits are rescued from Bowser whenever they decide to turn on him, should they not have anywhere else to go, and thus anything from Goombas to Chain Chomps are allowed to find their place in the M.S.I. building…Though the latter does tend to be harder to deal with, being basically spherical metal dogs.

Even with the difficulties, Gemini makes it through every day just fine with the same optimism and dutiful nature he's earned from conquering his demonic heart. Today, he's in the middle of going over examination papers for some new recruits in the cafeteria as he eats a Koopa Leaf salad. A paper in one hand, the fork in the other, the yellow-shelled Koopa said "This Sombrero Guy has a lot of enthusiasm, but he's not really useful for combat…Perhaps we can help him find a musical career."

He puts that paper down on top a built up stack and then is approached by three Shy Guys wearing tiny spy tuxedos. "Lieutentant Gemini!" One of them says in their odd gravely voice, and the Koopa looks at them as they salute before asking "Oh hey there. You're the new recruits in the espionage division, ummm…" Gemini pointed at them slowly while trying to remember their names, but the suit were covering up their usually distinctive colors.

Chuckling nervously, Gemini said "You're going to have to tell me your names again, sorry guys." The middle Shy Guy said while waving his arms "No need! Now we've become a new type of ' ' Guys! From now on you can call us Spy Guys!" A humored Gemini replied "Well that's fine, but I still need to be able to I.D. you three."

That same Spy Guy said "Well in that case, I'm Spy Guy 1, he's 2 and he's 3" while pointing left and right respectively. The left Spy Guy turned slowly and said "Wait, why do you get to be number 1? We never voted on that." The first Spy Guy replied "Well I came up with the idea so I should obviously be the number 1. Besides, you've always been a number 2, you even have the color scheme for it."

Glaring, the left Spy Guy said sarcastically "Right, and I just changed my name this morning to Luigi Guy. Give me a break, you're always like this." The right Spy Guy mentioned calmly "I don't even see why we need numbers, we could always call ourselves Red Spy Guy or Green Spy Guy." The left Spy Guy flaps his stubby hands around while venting in frustration "It's because HE'S always got to be the leader of these things."

Gemini sensed the rising tension and tried to grab their attention, but the middle Spy Guy raised his voice and send "No I don't! You're just making assumptions!" "Assumptions my keister! It's always been 'I gotta be in charge of this', 'gotta be in charge of that', 'gotta take charge of my friend's GRADE A SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT'." The middle Shy Guy replied "Hey if it wasn't for me it wouldn't have even gotten a Z-! I'll accept my apology anytime now" afterwards smugly closing his eyes and nodding his head.

Without warning, the left Spy Guy leaped on the middle and the two got into a large fight that kicked up dust in a cloud, and the right Shy Guy just sighed and looked at Gemini who inquired "I'm guessing you did originally come here to say something?" "We were going to ask for official recognition in being called Spy Guys, but I don't think it's going to work out…" The Shy Guy said while looking embarrassed, and Gemini offered "It's fine, I read the papers. It seems you guys get into these scuffles often."

"That's why you're not stopping it?" Gemini replied to that by saying "Yes, but you should probably move it elsewhere. Don't want to encourage a food fight amongst the-" He's immediately hit in the face with a berry pie, flinching just a bit as the Shy Guy comments "I-I'll try and get them out of here. The trials of being the rational friend…" He then starts pushing his fighting allies away from the cafeteria area, while Gemini is left licking the pie off his face.

"Hmm, at least it's not sour…" He said before using his electricity to pull the tin off of his face and standing up, watching as a food fight had erupted in the cafeteria. "Why they ever think this is a good idea when I'm around I'll never know…Guess that Bowser aligned mentality doesn't go easily." Gemini then spends the next five minutes getting everyone calmed down without harming a soul, though finds that by the time he's wrapped up some food had gotten on the recruitment papers.

Gemini sighed and tried to salvage the cleanest papers, but only found a few mixed in. Taking what he could get, Gemini stuffed them in his shell for safe keeping and commented "Guess I'll just have to go print out some more copies and start over" but he was so lax sounding that it was clear he barely cared. Making it out of the cafeteria, Gemini made his way through the many hallways without getting lost. What would normally be a labyrinth was pretty much familiar territory to the Lieutenant by now.

Though along the way Gemini was briefly distracted by some of the people in the M.S.I., and he took breaks to catch up with them. When he was done, he made it to the office space, where there were at least a dozen printers to choose from, each one connected to a dozen computers. After pulling up the files necessary to print, Gemini runs into a problem of one of the printers shorting. He's able to temporarily fix that with a jolt of electricity, but keeps in his mind to have it checked later.

On the way out of the offices, Gemini looks to the right while holding up a paper, and sees a few lights clicking on a long door at the very end of the hallway. With a pause he murmured "Alpha's in the Command Sphere again…If he's even left it the last three days." His words were laced with concern for his commanding officer and trusted friend, so with little thought he tucked the papers safely into his shell and made his way for the Command Sphere. "He's really got to stop this, it's not good for his health…"

He opens the door by placing his hand on it and discharging electricity, and inside he finds the machinery working full time around the spherical room. Atop the stairs in the center of the room was the leather chair Alpha sits in normally, and sure enough his arms were laid against the sides of the chair if the lights on the door weren't a big enough indication he was there. Gemini folded his arms and commented "Sir, you awake up there?"

The chair turned instantly and Alpha was sitting on it. Little know that Alpha is actually a Goomba with mechanical arms, nor that he commands a lot of authority despite his shortcomings, but in the face of his friend he casts aside his harsher nature and says "Well Lieutenant, wasn't expecting to see you still up." "It's not even night time." Was the response, said with concern as Alpha raised a brow and mentioned "Really? Was certain it was."

Gemini, glancing concernedly at his friend, asked him "You haven't slept in a while again, have you Alpha?" Alpha chuckled and brushed his hand out before replying "Relax Gemini, I'm just joking around. I've been napping every now and then to keep my health up." As Alpha turned back around Gemini had his doubts that his friend was telling the truth, considering how good he was at hiding that.

"You need anything at the moment, Gemini?" Alpha asked casually, with Gemini looking towards the monitors as they showed radars, heat signatures, and many other types of tracking devices along with data regarding the target of Alpha's picking, Alex Whiter. The Lieutenant wasn't hesitant in expression his concerns "You can't keep doing this Alpha. Alex Whiter died two years ago, his clone disappeared off the face of the planet. There's nothing left to go on."

"Heh, figured that was what this was about. You've always been good at reading me even if you never care to admit it, Gemini. But sadly you're wrong when you say there's nothing." Alpha folded his arms together and quickly brought up a screen showing the DNA sample he plucked off of Mew, leading Gemini to note "You still held on to that?" "Alex's been pretty cautious though…He hasn't done anything to set off the alarms." Alpha quickly said.

"That's because a dead person can't do anything, short of them being resurrected as a zombie. I'm going to regret asking, but why do you think Alex is alive?" Gemini said with a sigh, and Alpha turned around and explained "Recall if you would that E. Gadd had a portable Stargadd device all ready to go in his laboratory before that alien came to our world. The device went missing sometime during the events, and after the alien was defeated Mew vanished from the planet. I theorize the two events are connected, but there's more to it than that."

"We never figured out how Mew managed to survive the erasure of reality, but judging from the tachyon particles left in the air along with the research on some of the tablets I conducted I believe Mew had acquired the original Elemental Overlord's Gaia Temporis…Roughly sometime before entering the seventh temple, considering the alien's reactions and the process of elimination necessary." While Gemini rubbed the back of his head he replied "I'm following you so far, but how does Alex Whiter factor into this?"

"Simple…If Mew had no time to go to the ruins of the Origin Temple, then that means he acquired the Gaia Temporis through someone else. Logic dictates that since Mew was allowed to not be affected by the alien's spell over the world, another Elemental Overlord would as well, and who does that leave?" "Alex Whiter, obviously…" Gemini was a little surprised as the logic added up well, but even so the little doubts in his mind led him to state "Then he's been alive for two years and hiding from everyone he knew. Poor Driad was especially affected by his death. How do you make sense of that, Alpha?"

"I can't, honestly. That's part of the reason I want to find him…He needs to give some answers for his behavior. Though obviously, that's not all there is to it." Alpha smiled afterwards, Gemini knowing ahead of time that there were multiple motives at play here with his friend, so he went back to a prior issue "Can't you at least take a break every now and then? You handle leading the M.S.I. a lot better than I ever could."

"Well that's just doubting yourself too much Gemini, I think you'd make a fine Commander if I were to get stomped out of existence. For putting up with my selfishness lately though, I'm willing to tell you more of what I'm up to." Alpha said without being offended, and Gemini nodded his head and apologized only to get a response of "Another reason for going after Alex Whiter is because like you said with Driad, he owes us a damn good explanation for bailing on us like he has."

"If he even has one…" Gemini mentioned intently, with Alpha chuckling "Heh…There's definitely something up with Alex Whiter if he's been trying so hard to avoid seeing any of us again…Whatever those problems are, I think it's only right I help him conquer them. Not only that, but you and I both agree that it'd be quite a waste of all the work the Elemental Overlord put into securing a legacy for his powers if Alex never used them to help save other worlds."

"I'm sensing there's a little more to it than that, Alpha." Gemini pointed out, and Alpha laughed lightly and mentioned "Well I do also need to make it up to the kid after the crap I gave him way back when. It's a mutual giving sort of thing, you get what I'm saying?" Gemini nodded his head once, needing to not question anymore.

Then Gemini was reminded "Speaking of Elemental Overlords on other worlds…You assume that Mew might've got sent back to Earth via the portable Stargadd portal? If you want to help someone better themselves as an Elemental Overlord, wouldn't it be better to try and reach Mew through the regular Stargadd?"

"Simply put, regardless of how it went between Mew and Alex, I think Mew's in a better off position than Alex is regarding his powers…I could see the spark of a genius within those eyes of his, though one better suited for learning how his powers operate. That spark's not in the person he was cloned from…" As Alpha held his fingers together Gemini said "I have a little more faith in you finding Alex now, but I still believe you should be taking some breaks."

Alpha's reply was "Hahahah…! Alright Gemini, I'll agree to that. Sometimes I think you know me better than I know myself, but that's why I chose you to be my Lieutenant over everyone else here. If you'd like to join me, I think I'll go get something to eat at the cafeteria. This old body of mine may be mechanical, but-"

Suddenly the alarm starts going off on the monitors, filling the room with a reddish tint as Alpha turns himself around and watches as one of the monitors reveal a reticule far north of Toad Town, and with a smirk the Goomba said "But it seems I will have to hold off on our meal for now. Alex Whiter's been detected." Gemini stood there mouth agape and murmured "N-No way…" disbelieving this even after finding more faith in his survival.

"Either that or someone else is using the same type of energy as him…Whatever the case, it's certainly worth investigating." Alpha then turned the chair aside and swung a fist out exclaiming "Prepare my copter, I'll go investigate the signal alone! You should probably prepare a room for whoever it is out there." Gemini turned to the door and said "Alright, but I'll be ready to back you up if something goes wrong."

As Alpha was left alone, he immediately tapped the buttons on his right arm to download the coordinates the signal had tracked down, smirking a little before he murmured "Alright Alex Whiter…You've been evading us long enough, time to find out just what you're doing running away like this." He then snapped the tracking device shut on his arm and turned the chair so he could hit the staircase, the alarms still blaring behind him as he left the Command Sphere.

Meanwhile, in the Osagi Woods north of Toad Town, there's some activity going on amongst it's creatures. A few of the red and white headed Pirahna Plants were pursuing a figure that was weaving between the trees to try and escape them, but these Pirahna Plants were rather large and had a thick thorny vine for their bodies that allowed them to keep going long distances in pursuit of their prey.

The person they chased was a young teenager wearing a tattered brown cloak, who had short brown hair and a bleeding right arm. One of the Pirahna Plants had taken a bite of him, hence why they were interested in pursuit. The boy turned around and skid on the dirt, barely able to keep his balancing and nearly falling onto his face before he laid a hand down to stop himself. The Pirahna Plants gathered close together and drooled, but from the boy's perspective he could barely see them all as his vision was blurred.

"Ha…ha…ha…" Panting, the boy raised his other hand to his face and commented dryly "Got to be kidding me…One mistake…I make one mistake and now I'm going to be killed by plants…" The Pirahna Plants inched closer, deciding together how they would handle this boy, though in his eyes there was still a glimmer of life and he held his hand up, setting it aflame and remarking "It would be ironic for me to die where this journey began…But I'm not going to be your damn meal…"

The flames grew hotter as the boy grimaced in pain, straining to stand upright. It is because of this that he falls before firing the attack, the fireball striking the canopy of the forest and bursting out in a large enough area to burn the Pirahna Plants to ashes while releasing enough force to send the boy hurtling out of the edge of the forest, where he tumbles around twice before lying on his side, glaring at the forest as the flames go wild. "Shit…I'm really…off my game…" The boy commented before his eyes shut and he collapsed unconscious, his body resting atop his bleeding arm.

Luckily, the fire doesn't rage out of control for long as a water bullet is fired upon the flames to put them out, courtesy of the copter Alpha is riding in. He lands it down beside the boy's body without the gale of the spinning blades disrupting his rest. Alpha got out of his vehicle and quickly approached the boy, looking him over and remarking upon seeing the black glove on his right hand "Yep, no mistaking it…It is you." Despite the common perception that the boy was deceased, Alpha was not at all shocked to find him now.

"Look at you Alex…Is this really what you wanted out of your life? …You and I will both get to the bottom of this, I swear to you." Alpha, while initially sounding ashamed, met Alex's condition with empathy and gently picked him up off the ground. From his arm he spun out some bandages to cast the bleeding, then held him over his shoulders and said while going back to the copter "Just goes to show that patience pays off…Alright, lets get you back to base now, Alex Whiter." Once he was able to put Alex onto a stretcher in the copter, Alpha took off back to base, where no one would be the wiser to what he had just done…

 _Next Time: Nightmare Reality_


	2. Chapter 2

**Alex Whiter Chapter 2: Worthless Existence**

Fires crackled through the land, leaving nothing in it's wake but black ashes and boundless destruction. The sky was bathed in pure red, the sun split in half as the rivers ran red with blood. One person was in the middle of this destruction with hands gripped on the ashes of the once green grasses. It was Alex Whiter, who woke up and pushed himself off the ground to look out towards the destruction, which did not seem to have an end.

" _Why…Why is this happening?"_ Alex said as he walked through the destruction, trying to find some manner of answers. It was so dark, making it difficult to see anything until Alex lit his own body on fire. Then he found someone standing at the end of a bloody road, the familiar being that was his evil clone Chaos Alex.

" _You…!"_ Gritting his teeth Alex with the utmost furor ran up to the clone as he turned, grabbing him by the neck and glaring him right in the eyes.

" _You did this…! You destroyed everything…!"_ The clone's eyes, pale and lifeless, glared towards Alex's enraged self. _"I did nothing, evil me. This is all your fault…"_ With a glare as wide as he could muster, Alex yelled _"LIES!"_ and then gripped his clone's neck tightly to the point of choking him.

" _Look at you…how can you not see it…? How can you not FEEL it? Because you can't feel anything…Evil me."_ With one powerful clench, Alex crushed the neck of his clone, but his body crumbles into dust with only some black blood crawling across Alex's right arm. With his head throbbing and the area distorting, he awakes to the road opening further. Moving along for a while the area grew darker and the smell of blood reached his nose, and it was so thick and wretched that it nearly caused him to throw up.

But it was not as disgusting as the sight of the next person on his path, Joe Dark. He greeted Alex with a smile and his arms out. _"It feels good knowing I was right about you, Whiter."_

Alex once more did not hesitate to rush his foe, but when the punch was thrown Joe Dark stepped aside so fast he left afterimages and then grabbed his vulnerable arm, telling him gleefully _"Look at your hand…Covered in blood that you drew from those you killed."_

When Alex attempts to punch him with the other hand Joe Dark just grabs that as well and tells him _"You're not the hero…You never were. And only the hero can be victorious, so you cannot ever touch me again, Whiter. It was always the power of the Elemental Overlord that saved you, and your abuse of that is why this blood exists…Why all this destruction has been spread."_

With his arms locked and Joe Dark gripping them tightly, Alex grunted _"I-I would never do this! This is all your fault!"_

" _How cute…"_ Joe Dark murmured humorously, and then from out of nowhere the once dead witch Cackletta appeared behind Alex and grabbed his head with her wretched wrinkly fingers, forcing him to look to the left and watch as red lights shone down to reveal the broken corpses of all those he knew. Driad, Mallow, Geno, Gemini, Alpha, and even the Mario Bros. were dead with some cuts burnt thickly across their bodies.

" _It's all your doing though…You cannot run. You can NEVER run…"_ The two foes said simultaneously, their voices echoing into his eardrums.

Alex stared at the corpses, devastated and with his mouth agape. _"Everyone…no…I-I didn't do this…I swear I would never do this…"_ To add to the group of villains, Tabuu showed up in between Alex and the corpses, telling him bluntly _"Really? You never kept your promise to stop the Master Hand…You never kept your promise to protect those around you…Why should anyone EVER believe a thing you say?"_

The three chanted the words _"Liar! Monster! Destroyer!"_ over and over, growing louder until Alex broke down in pure frustration and exclaimed _"SHUT UP!"_ releasing a burst of fire out from his body that burned those around him to nothing as they screeched violently. When the fire dispersed, there were more ashes and a greater darkness than before. Alex's arms were both covered in a crawling black blood, and the world erupted into flames and magma around Alex. The sun was gone, but even so light remained and one last person before him stood and grinned within the shadows cast by the flames.

" _Well done…You've performed perfectly as my soldier. Your purpose has always been to destroy, child."_ The man clapped as he showed his appreciation.

Alex glared this man down, his rage building up inside of him as his heart clenched against his chest, with the anger being released as an eruption of magma between the two of them. When the smoke of the eruption cleared, the man was gone, leaving Alex puzzled. He then looked at himself, and his body was splitting at the seams with flaming cracks breaking through the dried black blood. With his body destroying itself, Alex shook his head and stumbled back, pleading deafly for this all to stop as tears of blood flooded from his eyes, but this nightmare only came to an end as his body gruesomely burst into flames…And he woke up into reality screaming at the top of his lungs.

He sat upright on a hospital bed with the heart rate monitor beeping like crazy, and he only stopped screaming when the weakness in his body got a hold of him and made him dizzy. He lifted a hand to his head, but felt something off from there…Not blood, but rather this strange cast. He then decided to check his surroundings frantically, finding himself in a secluded and bright white hospital room with fluids being injected into his body. The biggest thing that tips Alex off to where exactly he is was Gemini sitting in a chair, his hand raised and electricity charged with surprise on his face.

"G-Gemini…? I-I'm not seeing things, am I…?" He said exasperatingly as he got a grip on himself. The Koopa lowered his hand and in a somewhat relieved manner answered "Considering your condition I'm surprised you aren't…Who am I to talk though…Right now I'm speaking to a ghost…"

Alex glanced away from Gemini for a moment as he rubbed his forehead and double checked his surroundings before saying quietly "…This is Alpha's base…How is this possible…?"

"We found you unconscious near the Osagi Woods. Alpha personally brought you back here." Explained Gemini, and with a light scowl Alex murmured the Goomba's name and started tugging his right arm out to break the tubes off from his body.

"Are you crazy?! You're in no condition to be going anywhere!" Gemini heavily urged his friend.

"I have to be anywhere else but here…Don't bother asking why, just don't try and stop me…" Even as weak as he felt, Alex was able to pull one tube free from his arm and then used the hand to rip the other one off.

"Well that's a ridiculous request. Of course I'm going to try and stop you." But even with that said the Koopa didn't move as Alex pulled himself off the bed, immediately collapsing onto his knees when his feet touched the ground, unable to even get a hand onto the bed for support.

Even so, he stood back up while grunting in pain and slowly made his way for the door, but was stopped when Gemini shot a bolt to the door and created a wall of electricity to get in his way.

"You're really going to try this…?" Was Alex's tired response as he then lifted his hand to try and use his powers to pull the electricity away, but it wouldn't even budge. He the clenched his fingers a bit in frustration before hearing "You're in no condition to be doing anything Alex. So please, can you just calm down for a moment and hear me out?"

"What, because Alpha put you up to it?" Alex snidely inquired, to which Gemini shook his head and replied "No, because I'm your friend."

The honesty in his voice could not be false in the slightest, as he dropped the electricity blocking the door and got off the chair, waiting for Alex to respond. The boy considered leaving, as Gemini was giving him the chance to do so, but a nagging feeling in both his mind and heart made him turn around and comment quietly "Fine, but only for a bit, Gemini."

"Do you understand the condition you were in? Low blood sugar, dehydrating skin, fluctuating adrenaline levels…That's just a few of the things we found wrong with your body. This is really concerning Alex, there's no way you let this happen by accident." Gemini carefully explained while holding a clipboard he got nearby.

"Yeah, and?" Alex dryly commented after rolling his eyes.

"Why? Why would you let your body end up like this?" Pondered Gemini concernedly as a friend like him would.

"I'm not going to say anything. You're just doing this to get information for Alpha."

"Again, I'm doing this because I'm concerned for you as a friend. You have the ability to keep your body healthy at all times, so if I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to die." Gemini bluntly pointed out.

"I'm not going to dignify that with a response." Alex was starting to get a bit annoyed with Gemini's prodding, and after a sigh Gemini scratched the side of his head and dropped the clipboard to move on to another subject "Fine then, how about what happened with Mew? It's pretty obvious now you were the last one to see him." Alex didn't say anything, keeping an aloof look in his eyes as he glanced around the room.

"You can't just keep dodging questions." Gemini was trying to keep his patience strong to the best of ability, even as his friend acted like a child.

"I'm under no obligation to answer anything. YOU took me here against my will." Alex was quick to point out, a logical statement to be sure but Gemini nevertheless countered with a concerned if not blunt "I'm not going to say this again. Your body is in a terrible condition, we brought you back to base to help you out."

As Alex paused and blinked a bit as though stunned by this level of bluntness, Gemini didn't relent. "I don't know if it's the weakness making you act like this or something else, but all I'm trying to do is help and I really don't appreciate your behavior Alex."

"I-I just didn't want any of you to find me, ok? It was bad enough when my replica discovered me…" Alex replied after recognizing his behavior a little and glancing away.

"Well I know how that feels…Not wanting to be discovered anyways." Gemini said empathetically, referring to his time as a monster. But then he offered a hand out to Alex "Both of us are just shaken from this, honestly."

"Yeah…" Alex tiredly said before the two awkwardly paused, trying to think of a way to continue this conversation.

"You definitely look older than the last time I saw you, but I still see you as the silly kid from back then. It's hard not to…" Gemini continued first, with the memories of that younger Alex making the Koopa crack a smile, surprising the boy a little.

"Well that was all in the past, Gemini…Now I just would prefer to be left alone, regardless of how concerned you and Alpha are. It would be best not just for me, but for everyone else."

"I'm not going to relent on trying to help you out Alex, but if you get even a bit of your strength back there's nothing stopping you from heading out. I implore you to at least go speak with Alpha for a bit" was said with earnest, which led to Alex gritting his teeth a little reply "I really don't want to have anything to do with him."

"I get that you distrust him, but think about it like this…If Alpha was forcing you to stay here, then why didn't he have you chained to the bed?" The question offered up to Alex had faith put entirely in both parties mentioned.

With a light scowl Alex found he couldn't really answer that on his own and turned around, asking Gemini "Is he in his Command Sphere?" who replied with a yes, and reluctantly the boy let out a sigh.

"Then I'm going to find out just what the hell he's up to. Then I'm out of here…" He then walked out of the hospital room, his legs limping but he is at least able to stay on his feet the entire time he made his way to Command Sphere.

Once at the familiar door, Alex wasted no time in punching the front of it weakly, but it opened before the knuckles connected. It wasn't surprising Alpha was aware of his presence, but it did not sit well with Alex as he grit his teeth and stepped heavily into the room. Alpha was sitting on his chair, but with his right hand out he was in the middle of juggling something familiar to Alex. It was a black and gold stone with a clock etched lightly into it called the Gaia Temporis. "So this is the stone that bested the reality bender…Hard to believe something so small could be so powerful. Wouldn't you agree, Alex?" Alpha said nonchalantly.

In confusion Alex rubbed the cloak he wore and then checked his pants' pockets, confirming that the stone was no longer on his person. He then angrily clenched his fists before thrusting one hand out, exclaiming "That's mine!" before the stone started glowing, catching Alpha by surprise as it warped back into the grasp of his owner, who then clenched the stone close to his chest and turned aside. "Can't say I expected you to do that." Alpha then turned his chair around to face his guest directly.

"What the hell were you doing with MY Gaia Temporis?" Alex bluntly asked as he glared upwards fiercely.

"It slipped out as I was carrying you back. Figured I take a look at it while you were asleep. Just my curiosity as work, I didn't mess with it, I stake that on my honor as Commander." While Alpha was calm, Alex was perfectly blunt in his response "You wouldn't have been able to anyways. I made SURE that mistake won't happen again."

"Well after you sent your replica packing back home against his will I'm not surprised you'd say that" Alpha held nothing back, but Alex just rolled his eyes as he tucked the Gaia Temporis away and replied "Like ANYTHING surprises you."

"Now that's not true. I wasn't expecting you to look like utter shit for one thing." Alpha tried to play his comment off humorously, but Alex was having none of that and turned around to glare at the Goomba once more.

"There's definitely a fire in your eyes that wasn't there last time we saw each other, but it's more born of rage than determination or passion. I assume you came here to ask me a few questions, so go right ahead, my schedule is completely clean today." Alpha said while curiously paying attention.

"How the hell did you even find me?" Inquired Alex as he fiercely clenched his fists against the sides of his body.

"It was a simple matter of plucking Mew's DNA and using it as a means of scanning for your uses of elemental energy. It took almost a year but I knew it wasn't a flawed method. I know that's not the question you really want to ask me though." Alpha quickly answered so he could get to the meat of the conversation both sides knew they wished to get to.

"Fine, why were you so desperate to find me Alpha?" Asked Alex after he briefly cursed his replica for causing even more problems.

"You and I both know I'm no stranger to honesty, and this is no exception. You aren't the only one wanting answers. Before I can truly answer you, you have to explain some things to me." Alpha put on the utmost serious expression and pressed his fingers together only to be met with Alex sarcastically gesturing out and saying "What, the great and all-knowing Alpha doesn't have me all figured out?"

"Can the smart-aleck attitude, I wish to meet you on an even ground here. Or you can simply wait out until your energy returns and run away again. Your pick." Alpha made his point clear by pressing a button to make the elevated platform sink to ground level so he was on eye level with Alex.

Even with these gestures Alex expected ulterior motives, as that's how it always worked with this Goomba, but begrudgingly he said through his grit teeth "What do you want from ME then?"

"First off, what exactly did you do with Mew?" Alex lifted his brows up and dryly told him "I wiped his memories and sent him back to Earth. Didn't want him blabbing to you all that I was alive. He already served his purpose in stopping the reality bender anyways."

"That's all there is to it? Hmmmm, alright, then you chose my next question for me. Why have you been on the run for the last two years?" Alpha was immediately and bluntly rejected with "I refuse to answer, get on with your next question."

"That's not how this works. You owe an answer to the people you left behind. Not just me, but everyone you journeyed with." Alpha glared at Alex, who growled in frustration afterwards.

"Do you know how devastated Driad was in particular? Gemini told me the story of how Driad broke down in TEARS when he saw Mew, because it was the first time in a year that he had even a glimmer of hope that you were alive. And if nothing else he could've had Mew around to owe up for your disappearance…But yet again, your decision robbed him of that happiness." Alpha was bluntly hammered his point in but told nothing but the truth, which annoyed Alex as he knew the kind of emotional manipulation he was trying to perform.

"I did you all a favor by leaving you behind." Alex said snidely, though he wasn't trying to come across as unempathetic, something Alpha picks up as he then quickly used those words against him "Like you've been doing yourself a favor by dragging yourself around the world and slowly ruining your own body? Gemini ran down the conditions to you, and on top of that I also sensed that you're suffering from sleep apnea. This isn't right Alex. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were slowly trying to commit suicide."

Alex's glare grew angrier along with his tone "You don't get to assume that from me, Alpha" but a part of him also realized that he was beginning to succumb to Alpha's methods despite his awareness. As Alex's eyes widened to make that clear to him Alpha gestured a finger out and commented "I'm assuming nothing. You've made it perfectly clear that you want everyone to forget you ever even existed."

"Well maybe it would've been better had I never existed at all!" At the breaking point from all the prodding from this mere Goomba, Alex lost control of his thoughts and let that slip through with blinding rage.

Shocked at his own outburst, Alex slapped his hands onto his mouth and widened his eyes, while Alpha looked at him with a subdued reaction, trying to keep his own shock in check as he whispered "So the truth comes out…" to himself.

"…You and everyone else wasted their time helping me become the Elemental Overlord. I was never the right person for his powers…" Alex said as he turned around and had an ashamed look on his face.

Alpha offered empathy to his ally "Talk to me Alex. I am here to listen" and Alex glanced back, looking absolutely tired before he let out a sigh and while rubbing his forehead "…I'm only doing this because I've mistakenly gone this far. Alpha, you probably saw that evil clone of mine Cackletta created…I thought he was just some evil copy that witch made to accomplish her goals, but there was something very disturbing about him…"

"He didn't just copy my powers, or the souls inhabiting my body…He had my memories as well." He then clenched his right fist and tensed up "He talked me down, telling me that I was unworthy of having my powers, that I was a threat to everyone around me, and I would eventually lead to their destruction…And by god, I KNOW he was right." Finally he turned around and with fist held against his chest he bitterly exclaimed "Look at me Alpha! Do you see an Elemental Overlord or a stupid child?!"

"I just see someone who's lost…Bereft of a purpose from his point of view." Alpha quietly replied and shook his head "You recognize there's a problem with yourself…That's fine. That right there proves you have what it takes to become the successor the original Overlord wishes you to be."

"I…I disagree Alpha. These powers of mine are dangerous, you witnessed them first hand…" Alex shook his head while being overall melancholic in his response.

Alex sets fire to the space around his glove and holds it beside himself while staring at the flames "I have the power to destroy this planet…A-And I'm scared of that happening so much. My mind is a mess Alpha, I'm fighting this hatred and arrogance inside of me every waking second, and I fear the day when I can no longer keep them in check and harm those around me. But if I were to die, then I could never become the threat I fear in my nightmares…"

"So you consider these powers of yours a curse, is that it? You believe, for certain, that there is no way to avert these fears except through death?" Alpha inquired precisely, and Alex paused before confidently nodding his head.

After a sigh Alpha laid his arms down "As a wise man once told me…Don't hate what you assume to be a curse, adapt to it, and make it your own power…" Alex listened to the words intently, tiredly commenting afterwards "So basically what you're saying is…With great power comes great responsibility?"

"In a manner of speaking, I suppose I am." Replied Alpha in a surprised tone.

"…There's a hero in the comic books on my planet who lived by those words…But for all this power I have, I'm just not mature enough to be trusted to handle them responsibly." Alex glanced at the ground, followed by Alpha stepping up to say "Well that's where I wish to come in. You have a lot of potential Alex, that can never be denied. Sure, you believe you can be the destroyer of worlds, but the opposite shall always hold true as well."

"I had my chance to do that Alpha, and I chose to run away from my duty. I'm worthless, and you should just give up on me." Alex's response was melancholic, but Alpha shook his head again and replied "To hell with that. I'm a Goomba, and I've managed to do so much for this planet I love even with the odds against me. If a member of what's considered the weakest species on the planet has gotten this far in life, then you can go the distance necessary to become the Elemental Overlord the original believes you can be."

"In short, you're not worthless Alex…You're just young, and you have PLENTY of years to improve yourself. I may not have your specific set of powers, but I know a few things about elements and combat that I could pass on to you…Should you be willing to accept it." The offer was filled with honest kindness, but Alex just bit his lower lip and looked away "I don't believe it's worth your time to try, Alpha. It'll just end in disappointment…"

"I'll only be disappointed if you choose death over help. Tell ya what Alex…Why don't you take a break for a bit? Let all of this sink in, maybe grab a bite to eat to help your starvation, and then you can give me your response afterwards. I will respect whatever decision you make, you have my vow." Alpha then left things at that for now with a gruff smile on his face, with Alex letting out a tired hum before he turned around and began to make his way for the door, though he did glance back once at Alpha while thinking to himself _"Could Alpha truly be the light to free me from this darkness in my head?"_ and after once last pause he left the room to think about what he heard…

 _Next Time: My Choice Is…_


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:**

My apologies for the writing being different feeling in every chapter so far. I'm trying to change my writing ways for the better, so my efforts are going to be reflected in the way the chapters are written. I promise to have a permanent style ironed out by the end of this.

* * *

 **Alex Whiter Final Chapter: Changing Myself**

After his conversation with Alpha, Alex made his way out of the Command Sphere, pondering what to do next. With his head lowered he was deep in thought, being blind to the presence of a leaning Gemini close by.

" _Can I really trust Alpha? …He's not the worst person in the universe, but…"_ The memory of being probed for information through electric shock made Alex grimace and shudder, and then he lifted his head and finally saw the Koopa.

"…How long have you been there Gemini?" Alex said dryly without looking surprised while Gemini pulled himself away from the wall.

"The entire time. I wanted to just be close by in case Alpha needed me to help, but it seems everything went well." He sounded quite relieved to know things ended quietly between his allies.

"Be honest with me Gemini…How much of Alpha's plans did you know about?" Alex's suspicions were met with Gemini glaring at him but admitting honestly "I knew you wouldn't cause a ruckus, I think that's good enough."

"I suppose you would know him better than anyone else in this world…" Alex glanced away from his friend before hearing "He's earned my trust, and I've earned his. That's what he does with everyone around him, he wants to be able to trust them not just as comrades, but friends. Though I get the feeling he wants something a little more out of you, Alex."

"…Really?" "I think he sees you as a son he never had, honestly." Replied Gemini with a hand on his chin to show him deep in thought.

"That's silly. He needs to remember he's a Goomba sometimes…" Alex rolled his eyes a little and chuckled at the thought.

"It's not odd for different species to care for humans. Need I remind you that baby Mario was able to find his family because of the kindness of a few Yoshis?" Gemini's inquiry led to Alex admitting "Yeah I suppose I've heard of a few cases of animals taking care of humans on my world. But still, the thought of Alpha seeing me as a son is just…just bewildering…"

"Maybe you'll be able to think about it more after a quick meal. How's that sound?" Gemini's inviting smile and gesture out made Alex take his offer after a little thought, and so the two made their way through the hallways of the base until they were at the cafeteria. Along the way Alex looked at his cast after not paying attention to it for so long, noticing just how carefully it was wrapped around his arm so to not interrupt his blood flow.

"Gemini…?" "Yeah?" "How did this cast get on my arm?" Alex awkwardly moved his arm around to look the cast over the rest of the way, followed by Gemini grinning as he knew it'd feel good to answer this question.

"It was Alpha who gave you the cast. He was worried that the bleeding on your arm would've gone out of control during transportation. He also had to remove some Pirahna Plant venom from your veins by bending some needles between the cracks in the casting…I'm sure there's a pretty interesting story behind how that happened…" Gemini smiled at his friend to encourage conversation, but he just looked away and didn't seem to be in the mood to bring it up.

"I recall you being a little more talkative back then…" Gemini scratched his head and sighed. "I'm…I'm just really not in the mood right now Gemini, sorry." Alex was rather tired as he spoke.

"Maybe you'll change your mind once you get some energy back." Gemini then dropped the subject after that bout of optimism and led Alex into the cafeteria close by, which was bustling with activity again as it was now a new day entirely.

Alex followed Gemini to the buffet table but just idly glanced around the room at all the people wandering around, all of them content with talking to each other and discussing their plans for the day. A bit of jealousy rose up inside of Alex, manifesting as a tight scowl especially as a couple of the people mentioned their families.

Gemini could sense the tension though and turned around to ask "Everything alright Alex?" which was just what was needed to snap him out of current mood and glance ashamedly at his friend.

"…If only I could tell you, Gemini…" Alex's eyes glided left and right as he looked at the ground, and Gemini thought _"And if only I could help you get through whatever's bugging you, Alex"_ before he made it to the buffet line and made the decision to put some food down on a plate for Alex to eat, choosing some of the healthier options after taking into consideration the condition of his body on the medical records.

"Koopa leaves for energy, sun dried mushrooms for health, and a little bit of honey gelatin for your blood sugar levels. Mix and match the foods if you think it'll work out, but this should be enough to keep you walking straight for a few days." Gemini offered the plate out to Alex, who picked it up after blinking weakly a bit in surprise, followed by Gemini setting up his own plate with some fresh meat.

"Why aren't you giving me any meat?" "Shockingly, you don't need any of it. Your protein levels are normal…But if we don't get everything else in balance, that won't matter at all." Gemini then walked to one of the nearby tables and sat down, with Alex slowly doing the same. Gemini realized he forgot to grab some utensils and embarrassingly shot a jolt of electricity around another Koopa to magnetize a couple forks over to the table while the Koopa ducks his head into his shell to avoid them.

After Gemini casually throw a fork to his friend the two started eating, though Alex twiddled the fork around between his fingers while staring blankly at his food. He still didn't really feel in the mood to eat until his stomach grumbled loudly, which led to him sighing and then poking the leaves so he could put them into his mouth. It was an odd, crisp flavor, especially for leaves, but the saliva on Alex's tongue dampened the leaves and gave made the leaves taste rich and pleasurable to the buds.

Even in his melancholic state, Alex let out a merry hum but kept is subdued enough that Gemini couldn't catch it, though the fact that he quickly took another bite of the leaves blew the façade he was trying to put on regarding his pleasure. "I see you're taking a liking to this food" said Gemini with a chuckle while Alex was too absorbed into his meal to respond. This was basically Alex admitting that he was hungrier than he was letting on, and it didn't take him long for everything on his plate to be devoured before Gemini even got through a couple bites.

When Alex was done and he laid the fork onto the plate, Gemini just stared at him, blinking a few times while Alex noticed the attention his friend was giving and immediately broke off his child-like bliss to glance around awkwardly, not wanting to admit through words that he was enjoying himself even a bit.

"Hahahaha! I forgot that humans eat a lot more than we do." Gemini took his friend's actions in stride and even found it funny to some extent.

"Ghh…I-I just…" Alex struggled to come up with an explanation, but Gemini just waved his hand out and said while taking a bite of food "Don't worry about it Alex, you don't have to say anything." As he kept eating Alex glanced aside and barely paid attention.

"…After being gone I thought you'd want to ask me some questions, but instead we're just enjoying this meal." Gemini put his fork down in response and held his hands together before looking Alex in the eyes.

"The way I see it, you'll either tell me things when you're ready or you won't. I'm not going to disrupt your privacy…That's the difference between me and Alpha. We may be friends, but I'm not going to turn a blind eye to him using emotional manipulation to get answers sometimes." He said all that even knowing that Alpha might be listening in, though a part of him knew the Goomba would respect his opinion regardless.

"So just sit down, relax, and take your time figuring everything out Alex, and I'll be here to keep you company if you want me to stick around." The offer was made with a smile that Alex accepted into his heart with a tired chuckle before he replied "I guess we really are friends, cause you know what to say to me…"

Gemini chuckled in turn, glad to hear those words come from Alex as the boy sighed and then leaned back, rubbing the side of his head while pondering something deep down. While he was willing to accept Gemini's offer to just slowly think things over, there was something he was REALLY curious to ask while he had a prime chance available to him.

"Gemini, i-is there any part of you that regrets helping me become the Elemental Overlord?" Said in a hesitant manner.

"…I wouldn't say regrets, but I did have some doubts while we're going through the temples." Gemini laid his elbows on the table and held his hands, speaking seriously as he thought his words over carefully "I mean you were only 11 at the time, that's incredibly young for someone to be in control of that much power. Admittedly, I was going off of personal experience at the time…" Alex let out a tiny sigh as Gemini was seemingly confirming his suspicions, only for the Koopa to raise a finger to show he wasn't done yet.

"But if nothing else, you willingly kept going with Mario to every temple, even knowing you were outclassed against some of the later guardians. That takes guts, and I could respect that about you. Had you chosen to stay behind and do nothing, I would've made certain that you'd never become the Elemental Overlord. Cowards should not be trusted with power, cause those type of people only care for their own skins." Gemini spoke harshly on the subject.

"Now if you were to ask me if you should still be an Elemental Overlord these days…I'd have different words to say. Want to me to go on or is that good enough?" Alex had to think things over since he was given the time to do so, but the curiosity nagged at his mind more than ever before and made him nod his head gently.

"Alright…" Gemini made a loud crack with his knuckles as though he knew he'd have to buckle down for a bit and then continued on with his explanation "Truth be told, I can't really judge you on that without any clue as to why you've been on the run for the last couple of years. At most, I have to weigh in what you've done for us against you suddenly disappearing. You stopped Joe Dark from destroying the planet, you killed Tabuu, you defeated your evil clone and dealt the last blow to Cackletta's ambitions, and if it wasn't for you grabbing the Gaia Temporis Mew wouldn't have been able to stop the reality bender. Three times directly, one time indirectly you saved us Alex."

Alex just looked away as though he was ashamed by his accomplishments, and Gemini had to thus hold a hand out and point out "Hey, that's a lot to be proud of. You're a hero to the people like Mario and Luigi are…They even erected a memorial statue for you in Toad Town."

"Well not only did they waste whatever material they used to make that, but I should never be compared to Mario and Luigi…Neither of them are burying any anger or jealousy in their heart." "I'd debate with you on Luigi there, but he's not on topic right now." Gemini said while gesturing out a few times, intrigued by Alex's immediate response.

"Tsk…!" Alex frustratingly realized that he let slip an answer, and was beginning to question whether he was falling for any manipulations or if his mind was simply refusing to think straight from a lack of nutrition lately.

"Alright Alex, I think I'm starting to understand what's going on…" Gemini laid his hands down on the table and firmly explained "You're afraid of yourself. You don't want to go out of control and hurt those around you, so that's why you cut off your ties with us. Well let me tell you something Alex…"

Alex was expecting bluntness from Gemini with the way things were going, but the Koopa instead reached into his shell and pulled out a photograph to show after looking around to make sure that no one but Alex would see it. The picture showed what appeared to be Gemini with two other Koopas, a blue-shelled one with a red scarf and a pink-shelled one with glasses. Alex recognized the blue one as Kooper, an ally of Mario's, but not the other one.

"I don't tend to show this to anyone, but I can't illustrate my point without it. See these guys?" Gemini pointed to the other two Koopas and continued "They are my two bestest friends from before my M.S.I. days. Before Smithy gave me my demonic heart, I would spend my time with them having fun and enjoying life…Of course that all changed when the aforementioned event happened. Then I was afraid of ever staying with them, as I could've become a threat to their lives had my power gone out of control."

"I lost six years of my life with them thinking that very same thing over and over again…Sure, Alpha was there to help me train my powers, but I could never get rid of that nagging feeling until I saw them both again during Tabuu's attack. After defeating Smithy I decided to start seeing them both again whenever I could, and now I'm perfectly comfortable with myself and these powers of mine." While the picture was put away Alex just looked at Gemini while feeling mild confusion.

"…The point I'm trying to make is this…I don't know how long humans live for, but it'd really be a shame if you died prematurely or wasted most of your life running away instead of getting help that's readily available to you Alex. Alpha and I…We're your friends, we'll help you out however we can if you're willing to accept it."

"Is there even anything worth salvaging from this anger and jealousy, Gemini?" Alex bit his lower lip and took great shame in himself.

"Yes. Our friend." That was all Gemini needed to say to get Alex to widen his eyes and pause in place, his mouth agape as he started to come to a realization. He left behind so many friends when he ran away…Mario, Driad, Luigi, Geno, Mallow, Gemini and Alpha, but the one thing they all had in common was their inability to give up. For Alex, it made his decision all the more worse in hindsight, and his mind filled with an overwhelming sensation of shame.

He clenched a fist close to his chest and closed his eyelids while Gemini wondered just what his mind was thinking of. _"I never wanted this…I never wanted any of this…! This power, these responsibilities…! I just wanted my mother and father and the happiness we had together! Why can't I just go back to those times…!"_

" _You don't have to struggle anymore…You can just burn it all away and be done with this nightmare…"_ Alex snapped into his own mind for a moment as a gruffer and crueler version of his voice called to him. In his mind Alex was kneeled down, and a copy of himself walked up beside and held his arms out with a vicious look on his face complete with shaded forehead and flaring irises.

" _Come on now, just accept me inside of you…Let our hatred BURN it all away!"_ The hatred urged dramatically while the real Alex cowered from the hatred his other self showed by burying his head atop his legs and grabbing the back of it with both hands, hoping it would go away.

" _Hey hey, shoo already, he doesn't need you right now!"_ Another voice called out to the hatred, causing it to growl irritably before it's punched in the face by a swift burning fist, sending him hurtling far away. Alex continues to tremble, but that's because the voice he just heard is someone who has been a constant presence as his conscience for the last year or so…

" _Come on Alex, stand up. You can do it!"_ The enthusiastic voice came from Alex's clone, the cheery boy named Mew, wearing her familiar black shirt and blue pants and having an inviting smile on his face as he held a hand out to Alex, who said in a panic _"If it's not the nightmares, if it's not him, it's YOU…! Ever since I sent you back to Earth, you haven't left me alone…!"_

" _Well I'm not here to bug you about that this time. Come on, I want to show you something…At the very least lift your head up…"_ When Mew showed a lack of pestering, Alex slowly stopped trembling and let out a confused remark before lifting his head up, watching far ahead as a spotlight shone down on six of the people Alex knew from back then, the only one missing being Mario. They all smiled and waved, leaving Alex stunned with awe.

" _You may have lost the happiness your parents provided you with, but that doesn't mean you can never be happy again. We're all here for you, waiting for you to come back again Alex."_ Mew explained with a gleaming smile.

" _But how can I ever be worthy of this after all I've done? I'm a coward…I'm a liar…I'm a monster…"_ Alex replied while resting his hands on the ground and feeling nothing but pity towards himself.

" _You might not be worthy right now, but that just means you have to walk the path to achieve that worthiness…We might not be together now, but every step you take will bring you closer and closer, and eventually we CAN stand side-by-side as friends…and perhaps even brothers? Wouldn't that be cool Alex?"_ Mew said while putting his hands under Alex's right arm to try and help him up, but he was still a little resistant to the idea and looked away from Mew, mumbling curiously about accepting him as a brother…

It was then that Alex felt his other arm being lifted up, and he glanced to see the face of the portly red and blue plumber himself Mario smiling down at him with a thumbs up and a jolly proclamation of _"Lets-a go!"_ and that was enough to send a jolt through Alex's heart he hadn't felt in a while…The feeling of determination pulsed through his body, and he accepted the lift of his friends so he could start standing on his feet.

" _Then I'll try…I'll try and find my happiness at the end of this light…So I can be worthy of seeing you all again someday."_ Said as warm flames wrapped around his body, while the embodiment of Alex's hatred pushed itself off the ground after Mew's earlier punch, grinning from ear to ear.

" _You won't succeed…You'll see me again someday…No…You'll NEED me one day…And I'll always be there to welcome you with open arms…"_ Alex looks back at the hatred and while a little worried casts it aside for now, choosing to wake back up to reality with a sudden gasp that took Gemini by complete surprise.

"You alright Alex?" Alex stood up and began to make a run for the Command Sphere before giving Gemini an answer, though he suspected the truth quite easily from the brief smile seen on the boy's face. As Gemini chooses to leave the matter be, Alex runs through the base and nearly knocks down a couple people along the way until he ends up back at the Command Sphere, panting as he stops and enters because he was still too weak. Alpha was still where he was before, but his chair was elevated back up. He turned around and looked down at Alex with a tiny grin.

"Well well, that was pretty fast. Is there something else you want to ask?" Alex lifted his head up, panting heavily but still forcing through his mouth "I-I don't have anymore questions…I'm going to accept your offer…Alpha…"

"Oh? Are you sure about that, Alex?" "Surer than I could ever be…You're right, I can't keep running away. No matter what it takes Alpha, I'll go the distance necessary to get rid of this anger and jealousy…I don't want to just be worthy of being the Elemental Overlord, I want to earn the right to be your friends again." Alex stood firm and looked up at Alpha with a fire in his eyes, the kind born of determination, which made the Goomba's grin wider.

"And there's that look in your eyes again…Hahaha, now I see where Mew got it from. Very well, I'll train you as best as I can Alex, but be warned that while I won't be cruel I won't be going easy on you either. We shall begin tomorrow morning once you've finished regaining your energy, 5:00 sharp." Alpha spoke with the joy and authority of a proud officer, and Alex gave him a nod. Today was the start of a brand new journey in Alex Whiter's life, but for him to go farther along this path there is someone new he'd have to meet first…

 **ALEX WHITER CHAPTER FINISH.**

 _Next Time: The Other Protagonist_


	4. Chapter 4

**Shina Aurora Chapter 1: The Kindly Older Sister**

" _Ding dong, ding dong!"_ A bell chimed in throughout a humble schoolhouse, signifying the end of the day. Students began to gather up their books and supplies and flooded the hallways, filling the entire school with the harmonious sounds of conversation between them. The students in the "Earth History" school were the last to get out, as the teacher had some words to say to them.

"The homework for this weekend is to read chapter 5 of the 'Subjugation of Earth' book, and write a three page essay on the man who currently rules the planet, Prometheus Jeremiah. You can either be blunt or kind…Though I don't know why you'd pick the latter…" The teacher's mumblings get swallowed in the clamoring of the students, leading her to sigh as she massages her forehead.

There was one student who was quite attentive though. She is a teenage girl with silky blonde hair reaching to her rear, and she had on her a loose blue t-shirt that covers her admittedly impressive chest. With an attentive look in her glistening green eyes and a short smile on her red lips, the girl raised her hand swiftly, much to the delight of her teacher.

"Oh thank goodness Shina…Yes?"

"Do we need to cite anything?" The teacher clapped her hands after and said "Thank you! YOU HEAR THAT CLASS, CITE THREE SOURCES FOR THE PAPER OR YER FLUNKED!" The raised voice was enough to quiet the students and get them to listen, while the girl named Shina giggled and then stood up from her chair, wrapping her books under her right arm.

For being sixteen years old, Shina was a surprising six foot one inch tall girl, her long and lithe legs wrapped in light beige pants that complimented her figure. When the crowd in front of her parted a little, she walked up to her exasperated teacher and reached into her pants to give her a tissue.

"Here ya go Mrs. Lunabell, you're sweating a fountain again, hehehe…" Shina playfully said, and the teacher glanced at her with relief present and swiped the tissue to wipe herself dry.

"I swear Shina, teaching has aged me more than childbirth ever did…" The teacher went on for a while about her personal troubles, a routine Shina was used to by now but she nevertheless stood and heard her out 'til the end.

"Oh I'm sorry, this troubled old crone is at it again…" The teacher apologized while looking away and waving a hand out, but Shina gently grabbed the teacher's hand and said while massaging the area between her knuckles "Your aura is tense ma'am. You should try mom's yoga exercises, it'd make you feel ten years younger!"

"Oh, to be thirty again…Errr, I mean…I-I'll take you up on that offer if my crappy bosses ever give me a break." Shina nodded her head with that satisfying response and let go, bowing her head and telling her merrily "I shall see you later then Mrs. Lunabell!"

Shina twirled herself around with a leg held up and then made for the door, though the teacher had some words left for her "I'm expecting some A+ Grade work from you as usual Ms. Aurora, but no delays that time…You know what that means." Shina sharply paused under the door and let out a quick "ack!" before awkwardly smiling over her shoulder and chuckling.

"Umm…N-No…?"

"Ms. Aurora…"

"B-But a new game just got put in the mall! It'sgotonlineco-op,60fps,hundredsofhoursofgameplay

and-"

"And those hours will be waiting for you AFTER work. I can't let tardiness slide for too long…or my pay will be cut…again…" Shina's fangirling was interrupted with the sternness expected of a teacher, and Shina's expression deflates while she lets out a prolonged groan. However, she quickly perked back up with a smile.

"Just kidding! One A+ paper, coming right up!" Shina then sprinted out of the room, with the teacher wanting to stop her but being unable to match her level of energy in time, a trait the teacher smiled endearingly at.

Shina jogged energetically through the sleek wooden hallways, pardoning her way past all the students as she made her way to the exit. Before she could get there though she was forced to kick her shoes up and grind to a halt as someone called out to her, though she nearly slams face first into the steel doors before she stopped.

"Yo, Shinster! Leaving without at least saying hi?" While Shina grinned from nearly hitting the doors she pulled back and turned to meet the glance of two guys and a girl, the guy who addressed her swinging his hand out in a friendly manner.

"Hey guys! Sorrysorrysorry, I was just wanting to get back home to meet my 'lil sis!" Shina ran up to her friends after.

"Not a problem, but we were going to form a study group this weekend and thought you'd like to join up. This project is going to be killer unless we all pool our brains together."

"Or more specifically, if we don't have you around to balance our cynicism over this crappy book…Ugh, I have some choice words to say regarding that depraved man, let me tell you!" The girl said while clenching a pencil in her fist so tightly she snaps it, which leads to Shina raising a finger up and mentioning "Jillian, ya can't be getting your blood pressure up like this."

"Urgh, but FUCK that guy. If I had just a second with him, I'd…I'd…" While the girl imitates pretending to wring a neck with a frustrated expression, the boy looked at Shina and said jokingly "So I think that says enough, eh Shinster?" Shina was too busy chuckling with a hand on her lips to respond at first, but with a bright smile she looked at her friends afterwards.

"Yeah of course I'll help ya guys out! So ya thinking the usual time?"

"Sharp noon on Sunday. Mom's going to make her DELIGHTFUL pies, and hey, go ahead and bring your little sister along with you if she's not busy. I'm sure my sis would love to play with her while we're busy studying…Plus it keeps her off my back, you get what I'm saying?"

"Hahaha, sorry…Sis may be a little bundle of energy, but she's the cutest and politest bundle you'll ever see this side of Sancturia!"

"Sigh…True, true..." The boy closed his eyes and smiled fondly, followed by him mentioning "Alright then Shinster, I'll catch you then. Tell your sis I said hi."

"Will do Bobby! And Jillian, pleasepleaseplease don't pop an artery by Sunday." Shina said while her friend continued to rant overdramatically, at one point calling the man from the book a 'cockamamie mother fucker', though by then Shina had already resigned to her friend's quirks and turned around to finally exit out of the school building. To make up for lost time, Shina doubled her pace and ran across Sancturia.

As Shina ran across Sancturia, she bobbed and weaved around the many humble huts and other various buildings, trying her damnedest not to run into anyone along the way. One person tries to get into a conversation with her, but because of how quickly she's going she's forced to leap right over them while quickly apologizing, landing perfectly on her feet and sprinting backwards for a little while continuing to apologize to the bewildered person.

On the last leg of her run, Shina was panting a bit but excitedly thought _"Sis was really excited to show me something today! Oooooh, I can't wait to see it, she looked so proud of herself!"_ Finally Shina was at home, a two-story hut with a fanciful blue cloth acting as the door, which was brushed aside so she could enter.

"Sis, I'm home!" Shina proclaimed right away, but looked around the comfy living room and saw no sign of her sister. Puzzled, she stood there with lower lip stuck out while slowly tilting her head back and forth, unaware that her sister would just as enthusiastically enter the house just a moment later, accidentally ramming Shina in her firm butt and causing her to be knocked face first onto the ground…Or I guess it would be boobs first cause those are more…"projected" from the rest of her body.

"Ah no, sis! I-I didn't know you were…!" The sister said in a cutesy but panicking tone before running in front of Shina, quickly bending down to help her up. Shina smiled as she poked her head up and grabbed onto her sister's smaller hands. The sister was a five foot two tall girl with a small green t-shirt and blue jeans, her brown hair tied into a couple of cute tiny ponytails. On her back was a long object tied up in a wrinkly brown paper with the help of some ropes.

"I'm fine, what about you Kairi?" Shina received a concerned glance from her little sister afterwards.

"Sis…I'm really sorry I didn't-" Shina stops and surprises Kairi by leaning forward and pinching both of her cheeks and making her say with a giggle "H-Hey!"

"You're so adorable Kairi, ya don't have to apologize! Come on now, what did ya want to show me?" Shina let go of Kairi's cheeks and with a glistening look in her eyes she clenched her fists in anticipation, with Kairi smiling as she reached for the object on her back.

"I finally finished my weapon crafting class project! I'm going to turn it in next week, but I wanted to show you and mom first!" Enthusiastically, Kairi began unwrapping the object, scattering the paper and rope across the floor until she holds a crimson bo-staff with two emerald dragons coiled around it atop her extended palms.

"Y-You made this by yourself sis?" Kairi nodded proudly with a childish smile while Shina suddenly took the staff out of her hands and rubbed it up and down the side of her face, humming joyously as how smooth it felt. Kairi stood and with arms held behind her back she swayed back and forth, glad to see her sister liking her work. Then, Shina suddenly dropped the staff onto the ground and picked Kairi up off the ground, and as she giggled in surprise Shina swung herself around and embraced her little sister in a tight but loving hug.

"Oh I'm so proud of ya Kairi! Give your big sis some love!" Shina then turned her head to let Kairi kiss her, but in the midst of her giggling Kairi was feeling a bit strained because of the difference in size between them meaning Shina wasn't aware of how much strength she was using.

"S-Sis…We're not the same size anymore, I-I can't reach your cheek!" Kairi was still giggling playfully all the way, and Shina ashamedly stared at her sister before putting her down. Though not before putting a finger on her forehead.

"Well then ya need to hurry and grow up!"

"Ha, don't be impatient sis, I'll be as big as you someday!"

Shina laid her hands against her cheeks and was enamored with imagining Kairi being her age, leading to her blushing and drooling a little, though she snapped out of that thought quickly and focused on something more important, but first she gave Kairi her staff back.

"W-Well enough of that! Lets test out your staff with a quick spar before mom returns!"

"Are you sure Shina? I wouldn't want to break your weapon…" Kairi playfully smirked, but Shina just wagged her finger in turn and told her "That's pretty confident of ya, so how's about a wager? Loser has to wear braided hair for a week." Kairi's confidence was shot a bit and she looked a little concerned after hearing that.

"B-But neither of us like having our hair braided."

"Then ya'll just have to get your big sis flat on her rear first!" Shina said with faith in her sister's capabilities, though as a contrast Kairi's nervously gulped and chuckled, slowly turning to make her way for the basement stairs at the other end of the room. As Shina followed, she quietly hummed a jaunty video game tune.

At the basement there were a couple blue mats laid out along with some wooden training dummies. Shina went to one end of the room while Kairi was at the other, tightly gripping her staff diagonally while Shina playfully held her right hand up and then called forth from a flash of light a gold bladed rapier with a green tassel at the end and a curved silver guard for the back of her hand. She held it in a reverse grip behind her after gliding it around in front of her, and she held the other hand sideways against the center of her chest, swaying her hips back and forth gently.

"Ya ready to go sis?" Shina playfully grinned with a light chuckle, and Kairi hesitantly nodded her head but then gripped her staff tightly and murmured "Setting aura link…now…!" and suddenly the staff was wrapped in a jagged but pristine light-blue field of energy known as aura.

"Not bad for your first time sis, we'll work on stabilizing later! Come at me with all your youthful energy!"

Kairi nodded her head slightly and then swung the staff at Shina, still gripped with hesitation. Shina responded by twirling her body 180 degrees and swiftly striking the staff, flakes of aura breaking off while the weapon was repelled. She then stamped her foot on the ground and stabbed the air, sending a flurry of sparkling thrusts that forces Kairi to wave her staff around to stop them from reaching.

"Good job, now try this one…!" Shina turned herself forward and flipped the way she gripped her rapier.

"D-Don't get too crazy sis, if you do, mom will-…!" Kairi raised her staff to block a powerful thrust from Shina, complete with a release of sparkling spiral aura across the room that rippled the mats.

"She'll overlook it because she'll so proud of you!" Shina merrily said, followed by her twirling her rapier around to create a circle of aura that fills in with a bright golden glyph, and as Shina pulls back on her rapier Kairi has a dreading look on her face with her forcing half a smile. She readied her staff to brace herself while Shina enthusiastically thrust the seal with the tip of her weapon while proclaiming "Severance Saber!" with the utmost cheerfulness.

A radiant blade pushes through the seal in an instant and strikes Kairi's staff, shattering the aura around it and pushing her back no matter how hard she braced herself. At the edge of the mat Kairi began to tumble back, but Shina dispelled the rapier and quickly went to catch her in the warmth of her arms. Kairi opened her eyes and saw her sister's smiling face, leading to her glancing around ashamed.

"I-I'm sorry sis, but I'm just not as strong as you are…"

"Oh pish-posh and baloney! Do ya see a single nick on your staff? Ya built something just as strong as you are! So be proud of yourself!" Kairi looked at her staff at her sister's mention of it and saw that there were indeed no scratches, and she quickly cracked a bright smile and giggled as Shina put her back onto her feet and then lightly bonked her on the head with her knuckles. She then put her fists on her hips and said "And don't worry about the braids, I was joshing ya. Your hair already brings out every single square inch of cuteness on your face!"

"S-Stop with the praise sis..." Kairi turned aside and her cheeks turned as bright as primroses, but her smile was also brimming from cheek to cheek.

Shina held her arms behind her back and giggled with a closed eye smile, while upstairs a motherly voice called out "Kids, I'm back from my meeting, and I bought some Chinese food!" Kairi and Shina stared at each other with their mouths very agape and then pumped their fists.

"Wanton! Wanton! Wanton!" The two cheered their way up to the dining room, where things were being set up by their lovely mother, a gal with aquamarine hair and a baggy aquamarine robe with ancient looking pink clouds on the bottom, complete with baggy blue sweat pants and wooden sandals on her feet. This was the two's mother, Auris Aurora, who upon setting the table with food galore right away asked how her children's day went.

"I finished creating my own weapon mom! It's a bo-staff!" Kairi proclaimed with a great deal of enthusiasm, and while chewing some food Auris widened her eyes in surprise.

"My my, already? I will certainly see it after dinner."

"It's very strong! Took an attack from my 'Severance Saber' and didn't even get a scratch." Auris nearly choked on her food once Shina said that, and with a hand on her throat as she pulled herself together she dryly said "I better not find out the basement is a mess again, Shina…"

"Oh mom, we went easy on it. The floor's still here, isn't it?" Shina tried to lightly put a spin on the matter, but that just made Auris squint her eyes and quietly groan.

"Never mind…Shina, about Kairi's present…" Shina gives an aloof glance while twirling her chopsticks between her fingers, leading to Auris smiling at her and saying "I know you love playing your video games, but it's been three days since her birthday…" Kairi immediately plants her hands on the table enough to rattle the silverware.

"S-Shina's putting all her love and effort into my gift, I know she is! I'll wait until my next birthday if that's how long it takes!" Shina and Auris both looked at her, though Shina gave a smile and told her "It's going to be done veeeery soon, even if I have to stay up all night!" Kairi's immediate smile of anticipation was enough to quell Auris' concerns when combined with what Shina said, and she relaxingly went back to eating her food.

The rest of the dinner went by without any further snatches, and after the table was cleaned off Kairi went in to her room to study while Shina retreated to her room to work on this mysterious gift as promised. She say atop her pink cotton bed sheet and reached into a drawer to pull out some knitting needles, protective tape, and a partially completed red bandana that had a steel plate with the kanji for "hope" etched onto it at the center of the bandana.

Shina spends the next few minutes wrapped her delicate hands in the protective tape, making sure it was thick enough to survive a needle puncture or two, and then she tightly clenched her right hand into a fist in front of her and whispered out "Yeah!" as she was pumped up and ready to work. Afterwards all she had to do was pull out the spools and her small blue iPod, placing the headphones in and choosing to start off with a quiet and relaxing tune, that being Jolly Roger's Bay from Mario 64.

She then went to work on knitting together the rest of the bandana while the lights were off and the curtains were shut, as it helped her concentrate. She closed her eyes and was guided by the aura between each fiber of silk, slowly knitting together more and more of the bandana while the iPod kept going through the playlist of relaxing pieces, and at some points she even hummed along to the tune. It wasn't until four hours later when Auris came into the room and knocked on the side of the door, sending a ripple of aura through the walls that Shina easily sees with her eyes shut.

After swiftly pausing her music and laying her materials onto her crossed legs, Shina looks at her mother and pulls the headphones off. "What's up mother?" She inquires happily, while Auris turns on the bright red light on the ceiling and then lays her arms into her sleeves.

"I'm glad you are still working on the bandana, but I thought I should remind you-"

"That Gravitus is coming back soon? Hehehe, don't worry about it mother, I'll just get the Neo Drive test whatchamacallit over with and be back in time for dinner."

"That's…not what I was going to get at. There's no guarantee you'll make it back alive. As your mother, I'm filled with nothing but grief to even think about this again…" As Auris bit her lower lip and lowered her head, Shina kicked herself up off the bed after putting the materials aside and walked up to her mother, putting her hands on her shoulders to get her attention.

"Gravitus only kills those who resist, I'll just go along quietly and get it over with." Auris looked at her daughter's smile and yet could not feel even a bit of relief. After Shina let go of her shoulders, Auris turned around and prepared to leave.

"Sometimes I wonder how you got to be this way with me as your mother…Please, just take some things into consideration before he shows up, Shina." Auris then departed, while Shina had a brimming smile on her face the whole time. But when Auris was far enough away, Shina hung her eyelids half open and let out a bit of a sigh. She went back to her bed and sat down, though it wasn't as easy to get comfortable this time.

Even with her listening to music and knitting, it was difficult for Shina to get something off her mind. _"I might be able to avoid dying at Gravitus' hands, but in two years time…"_ she pauses to look at her reflection in the bandana, but sees only Kairi in it after a while _"…sis will be next…"_

Shina reflected on the smiles she saw on her sister's face today, how precious those memories were to her even in the smallest of doses, and she then clenched the center of the bandana tightly and grit her teeth. _"This gift isn't good enough for my little sis…I have to give her the comfort of knowing her and I will be happy together forever…"_

" _Of course! I'd love to go down to the Earth together!"_ Shina recalled a promise she had made to her sister two years ago, a promise that she would be damned if it went unfulfilled, and she gripped the bandana tighter upon remembering it. Though before she left an imprint on the plate, her memories made her think of something and relaxed her a little. _"Earth…? Wait a second…There might still someone I can turn to for help…I just have to hope he'll be willing to listen…"_

She confidently nodded her head and vowed to give her idea a try in the morning, but before she made the mistake of plopping down for sleep she flinched and recalled she still had work to do and quickly went back to finishing up Kairi's bandana. The slight glimmer of hope gave her the energy to finish quickly and cleanly, and after she gave a wide smile to her success and put everything away she finally plopped down on top of her bed and looked to the starry ceiling. Her night sleep would be plagued with the thoughts of Kairi's smile telling her just how important tomorrow would be. Shina raised a hand towards the ceiling and had but one thing to say…

"For you sis, I would move the stars in the sky just to keep that smile on your face…"

 _Next Time: The Elemental Overlord_


	5. Chapter 5

**Shina Aurora Chapter 2: I'd Do Anything for Her…**

Bright and early next morning, Shina rushed to head out of the house after breakfast. "I'm going to head to the mall, see ya later!" She proclaimed joyously, but her attempt to hide her intentions just led to Kairi waltzing up to her with a merry look in her eyes.

"Can I come too, sis?" She said with the utmost delight in her voice, her arms folded behind her back as she swayed back and forth. Shina hid her hesitation behind a smile and bent down in front of her sister to rub the top of her head.

"I'm going to be with my friends discussing boring high school stuff. We can go together another time." Kairi's disappointed sigh afterwards bothered her sis, but she cracked a smile and giggled to try and cheer her up. When Kairi smiled after, Shina felt satisfied enough to be able to leave her house. Though after pulling the cloth door back into place, she clenched a fist against her chest and let out her own sigh. Afterwards she took in a deep breath and tried to focus on her goals for today.

"Hopefully he's there…" She murmured before making her way across Sancturia, trying her hardest to focus only for people to distract her a lot with hellos and the like. Since she wasn't running today, it was hard not to break and say hello back, and even with her mind focused on her personal affairs she gave a genuine response every time until she made it to a grand pyramid near the center of the city. This pyramid reached high into the sky and was a longstanding part of Aurian history, having existed since the time of the Ten Sages.

But Shina had no plans to enter the pyramid, as the person she wanted to meet was leaving the place the moment she arrived. He was a tall and muscular man with green skin and black hair tied into a ponytail, complete with a rough and shaggy beard. His wares consisted of a set of samurai armor and puffy samurai jeans, with a katana sheathed on his waist. Raising her right hand up with a smile, Shina waved to grab the man's attention.

"Morning Gabriel!" She said with gusto, and that snapped the man out of whatever thoughts he had in the moment as he raised his head up and looked surprised to see her.

"Shina…? Gravitus is not here yet, I don't know why-" Gabriel paused for a moment and held his extended right hand into a fist, suspecting what he didn't want to about her presence. He approached her and rested that same hand onto her shoulder, asking concernedly "I really hope you aren't thinking what I believe you are, because-" Shina stopped him by laying a hand on top of the one on her shoulder and smiling.

"Nothing like that, I just wanted to talk with ya." Shina allowed Gabriel to let go, albeit with him letting out a sigh of relief as he stepped back. He then folded his arms together and stood patiently in place, projecting a tough but understanding presence from his rugged body.

"I always have time to spare for you and Kairi. What's troubling you?" Shina knew her unease could not go unnoticed by the man who was like a father to her, so she wasted no time in explaining herself.

"Speaking of Kairi…" Shina glanced aside and laid a finger on her smirking lips, and Gabriel's concern once more returned to his face as he both grimaced and let out a quiet "Oh no" while Shina just nervously chuckled.

"Ummm…Is it possible that you might have by some chance found some way to stop Gravitus?" It was hard for her to directly state her intentions, especially as she kept glancing around and smiling the whole time. Gabriel started rubbing his forehead with one hand and let out a low growl.

"So you are thinking of rebellion…? Out of all of Auris' children, I thought you'd be the one to not consider this…" He said disappointingly, but Shina responded with a shake of her head and put on a little more serious expression.

"I have to do this Gabriel. I know the consequences of rebellion, but in two years time Kairi is next in line to be chosen. If there's even a chance to stop Gravitus before then, I have to take it, and you're the wisest person here besides mom so I thought that maybe, just maybe…" "…I do know something…" Shina was surprised by what she heard, though it was given with much hesitation in the man's voice. Gabriel glanced slightly over his shoulder before closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath, turning around while Shina's mouth was agape with anticipation.

"I'm certain your mother has told you of the Elemental Overlord…" "T-The Elemental Overlord?! Oh my god I read so much ab-" As Shina's eyes lit up and she lost control of her volume, Gabriel turned back and had to quiet her with a delicate motion of her hand downward, and she picked up on it and winced a little before continuing quietly "H-He was the legendary hero from two-thousand years ago who defeated and sealed away the Dark King, but died in the process…"

"The truth of the matter is that he also sealed away his power on another world…At the time, only your mother knew location and even under pressure never revealed it to Gravitus, but in secret the Planetary Aurians have done whatever research they could and traced his powers to another world and discovered that he left behind a prophecy for someone to properly inherit his powers. By now, that person has become the new Elemental Overlord."

"And he'd be strong enough to stop Gravitus?!" Shina said, barely containing her excitement behind her brimming grin and widened eyes.

"In theory, yes…However, it would be quite suspicious if any of the Planetary Aurians departed to approach the successor, so we had refrained from doing so." Gabriel paused for a moment and then glanced back and saw the disappointment slowly coming to Shina's face. He then turned back and added "You, on the other hand, would have a better chance" which led to the hope returning to her face but with a surprised grin added to it.

"B-But if he's on another planet…" "Then getting there would take a while, in normal circumstances, and Gravitus will be back within a day or two. Luckily…" Gabriel subtly reaches into the chest plate of his armor and pulls out a small silver metallic hexagon with a wave of red energy flowing across it every few seconds.

"Saturn built this device. If used, it can teleport you to the planet the successor was seen on." As the device was held in front of her eyes, Shina was allured by it's capabilities and the hope it brought to her heart, and slowly she raised her hand out to touch it only to snap back upon realizing something.

"But wait…Gravitus would know that I left…" "Only if you didn't return fast enough. Even so, it would take Gravitus some time to reach you, and if nothing else he will simply punish me for letting you escape." Gabriel gave Shina a tiny smile of reassurance, which lit up a smile on her face and made her give a giggle that resonated well in the man's heart.

"You don't have to do that, it's not-" Gabriel stopped Shina by getting on one knee in front of her to hold the device up in the palm of his hand and whisper "It's not a matter of 'do' or 'do not'. I just wish to give something back to my people after all these years, but all I can do is leave it up to you to decide, Shina." Upon hearing Gabriel say that with all his heart, Shina nodded her head and once more prepared to take the device to decide the fate of her people…

But she once more hesitated, as that was quite a weight to bear by herself. Glancing aside, Shina thought of what could happen were she wrong, about Gravitus' reaction in particular. Then she looked in the other direction and thought of Kairi, her giggles echoing in her mind and the cherished memories the two shared weighing heavily on her heart. Then she glanced behind her and saw all the Aurians walking around, smiling, communicating, and sharing an overall camaraderie with each other that would devastate Shina if it was all thrown into chaos.

"I-I need to think about a little Gabriel…" But Shina then felt her right hand being touched coldly and turned back in a snap, watching as Gabriel flipped it around and gently put the device in her palm, closing her fingers around it without setting it off. He then stood up and with eyelids shut told her "Do whatever you feel is right, Shina." Without another word, he turned around made his way back to the pyramid, and even though Shina wished to say something she could only hold her arm out and think of the words before pulling back in an instant.

She then opened her hand to look at the device, choosing rightfully to put it in her pockets for now. She then turned around, her hair waving in the breeze as she looked back at Gabriel's departing figure and murmured a "Thank you" before making her way back home. The trip was quiet on her end, as she was too deep in thought to hear the voices of all those saying "hi" to her. When she got back home, she immediately lied down on the couch and stared at the ceiling with a hand on her stomach and another supporting her head, and she gently kicked her feet around while deep in thought.

" _Mom told me the Neo Drive requires someone worthy from our bloodline to work…"_ Closing her eyes, Shina thought back to yesterday when Kairi's staff held up against her powerful attack even with an imperfect aura surrounding it, and while cracking a smile she continued on with _"Sis is more than worthy for the Neo Drive, and if Gravitus gets a hold of her…"_ the wretched thought made Shina grasp her shirt tightly, though she did take a breath in to relax herself a little later.

" _Maybe…Maybe I'm just being paranoid. Yeah, that's it…Heh…heh…haaaaa…"_ Shina let out a deflated sigh that matched her thoughts, and Kairi happened to be within earshot of that and ran over to the couch to leap and lay part of her body down on Shina's stomach to jolt her eyes open in surprise and let out a blunt "oof!" Kairi gave her a smile and asked "Is something the matter sis?"

"Oh no no, I was just…Ummm…Thinking of our homework assignment! Yeah, that's it!" Shina snapped her fingers after coming with up another subject while pulling her arm out and starting to sit upright, which gave Kairi the cue to slide off and stand up while Shina smiled her way.

"You're smart sis, you needn't worry!" Kairi's words were filled with pride as she held her head up high and smiled with eyes shut. Unbeknownst to her though, Shina froze in place and sniffled, a couple tears coming out a few seconds later, though she quickly wiped them away before Kairi could see them, and the smile returned just in time.

"Y-You're right sis…" Said with her voice cracking a little. Kairi then clapped her hands together a few times and said while bounding up and down "Maybe we can play a game for a little bit! Come on, come on!"

"Hehe, alright Kairi, we can play for a bit." Shina thought that by playing a video game with Kairi for a while, it'd help take her mind off this conundrum just a bit, but the issue was ingrained in her mind so deeply that she couldn't think away for even a second. These distractions led to Kairi winning all of their matches, but Shina kept her feelings hidden behind a smile and patted Kairi on her head when she was done.

"Alright sis, Imma going to study now. You got your own homework to deal with, so no more slacking off." Shina gave her sis a wink and a nudge of her pointer finger, and Kairi let out a prolonged "Awwww" but still happily went off to her room after. Shina watched her head up the stairs, cracking a forced grin as she thought _"Sorry…I-I just need some time alone…"_

She then went up to her room and sat at her wooden desk, pulling out a notebook and writing down the pros and cons of choosing to get the Elemental Overlord's help. She let the pen flow across the paper without looking at it, and spent so much time on this matter that Auris ended up coming into her room to deliver her dinner. She didn't say a word, as her stern gaze said enough along with her quiet sigh as she left, even without her looking at the notebook.

Being disrupted by her mother made Shina take a moment to look at her notebook and see what she had gotten so far. There were many cons, but just as many pros…Though there's one thing that stuck out in her eyes that made her lift the notebook up to look closely at it. On the pros side, while there were reasons such as "To free my people" and "To remove Gravitus' tyranny", that side was mostly populated with things related to her family.

"I want to see her smile forever…I want to see her happy forever…I want to see her grow up…I want to see her find love…I-I want to see her have children…I-I w-want her to grow old with me…I-I n-n-need us to be one big h-ha-apy fam…" She couldn't make it through, with her hands wrinkling the papers as tears trickled down onto the ink, spreading it across the page. _"Don't worry if you don't feel happy at times, that's what big sisters like me are for!"_ A memory emerged from her mind as the tears kept flowing, and she cracked a bit of a smile and pulled the notebook away.

"God…w-why am I even debating this…? I'd do anything for her…" Her voice cracked the entire time she spoke. She then stood up from her damp notebook and rested her fingers on it for a moment, while brushing her face dry with her sleeve as best as she could. "Sis, I'm going to do it…I'm going to preserve our family's happiness forever and ever, just ya wait and see…" She then walked to her drawer and opened the top one, reaching in to pull out her iPod so she'd have music to relax with, but while reaching in she looked at the completed bandana.

"Oh…yeah…" She murmured with half a smile before pulling out the bandana as well, and with a nod her head she followed up with "If this takes a little bit of time, then at least I'll have given her her gift…" Thus she held the object close to her hip and left her room, looking around and noticing that the lights were off and everything was unnaturally quiet. A quick glance on the clock in front of her showed that it was already 10:14 PM, and Shina felt momentary shock. She then looked to the left and noticed Kairi's door was shut, putting two and two together and choosing to quietly enter her room.

Inside, Kairi was asleep, tucked neatly into her sheets while she snored cutely. Shina smiled and laid a hand on her cheek as she approached the bed. Kairi was in such a deep slumber that Shina didn't feel right waking her up, so instead she stood beside the bed, rested the bandana on top of the sheets, and while rubbing her sister's head she whispered "Sleep well, Kairi…"

Turning around, Shina laid a hand on her chest and let out a sigh of relief before making her way to the door. Though unfortunately, Kairi started smacking her lips while quietly murmuring "Mmm…Is that you…Shina?" It was too late to leave, and Shina froze at the door and folded her arms behind her back before glancing warmly and awkwardly over her left shoulder.

"H-Hi sis. Are you sleeping well?" Wondering why her sis was here this late at night, Kairi inquired "Is something wrong?" Shina glanced around and then spread her arms beside her hips in response. She had difficulty expressing what she was going to do, as there was concerns that Gravitus would torture the information out of Kairi.

"…I-I'm not going to be at school, maybe…" "Huh? Why? Are you sick?" Shina widened her eyes and shook her head before replying "Not at all! I haven't been sick for a long time! I-It's just that…" It was getting harder to tell lies to her sister, and the guilt rose up inside of her.

"Please Shina…Are you really ok?" That really smarted for Shina, who cast aside all pretenses of lies that her sister didn't deserve and while hiding her sorrowful expression by looking at the door she said "F-Forgive me…But there's somewhere I need to go…Something I HAVE to do…"

"H-Huh?!" Kairi gave out a more awake sounding sound, and Shina quickly glanced back and swung her left hand to assure her "N-Not that I'm not going to be back! I promised you we'd go down to Earth someday, right?"

"I remember that, but you're not telling me where you're going…" Kairi hung her head a little, and her sis quickly replied "I can't tell ya exactly where I'm going, cause I don't even know myself. But I'm going to find someone who can defeat Gravitus and free our people from his tyranny."

"Let me come with you!" Kairi proclaimed, and after Shina flinched from that she replied swiftly "N-No way! Mom would be pissed if I took you with me!" "W-Well I'll be pissed off if you leave!" Kairi exclaimed, but not enough for the sound to escape the walls much to Shina's relief…though she was distressed by how Kairi was feeling. Shina was about to say something when Kairi punched down on the metal plate of the bandana.

Kairi lifted it up and looked it over with a confused look in her eyes, and Shina smiles at her and says "Happy belated birthday sis…" "T-This is…my gift?" Shina decided at this point to walk to the bed and sit down on it, and with hands rested on her legs she explained "It's a bandana handcrafted by yours truly. If you wear it, it's like I'm with you always." Kairi looked away from it and stared into her sister's eyes for a little before shaking her head and clenching the bandana tightly.

"I don't want that! I want you to actually be with me! P-Please don't go sis!" Kairi's stopped when Shina suddenly wraps her arms around her neck gently, her head hung onto her right shoulder.

"I will come back, and you know why?" "W-Why?" Kairi stammered out, and Shina pulled back and kept her hands on her sister's shoulders while giving a bright smile and saying with the utmost cheerfulness "Cause I made a promise to ya that we'd go visit the Earth together! Not even the heavens or hell will keep me down!" For a moment, Kairi could only stare into her sister's eyes, but her bombastic speech just left her cracking down and laughing.

"Hahaha, that's so cheesy Shina…" "But it got you to laugh, and that's fine with me." It was just another memory for Shina to cherish, another part to motivate her to make it through this. She then leaned forward and kissed Kairi on the forehead, taking herself off the bed and making her way back to the door once more, with her sister not making any objections for the moment as she rubbed the spot she was kissed fondly.

Before opening the door, Shina paused one last time and said "…You're a strong girl sis, so don't stop living life. Do well in school, eat right, exercise properly, have fun with your friends, and most importantly…" With fingers clenched around the doorknob so tightly it began to crunch, Shina said with tears in her eyes "N-Never give up hope…!" She couldn't stop her voice from cracking, so she quickly left the room before her sister could see her squinting to keep the tears back. The door was slammed shut, with Shina's hand trembling until she let go of the doorknob and brought her sleeve up to wipe away the tears.

"Heh…It's alright Shina, you can do it…All you got to do is take that device and-" Shina reached into her pocket, but the device wasn't there much to her surprise. She hadn't taken it out, so someone had to have swiped it out at some point. In the midst of panicking and moving her hands around to check for any lumps in her clothes, she sees the lights were suddenly on in the living room, and it was clear what was going on. Making her way down, Shina notices Auris sitting on the couch while holding the device up in her right hand.

"So, you are ready to depart…?" Auris watched as Shina stood beside her and took the device as she offered no resistance. Shina blinked her eyes a bit while looking between her mother and the device, asking bluntly "Mom, why did you have this?"

"Did you think you could hide things from your mother?" Said as she stood up from the couch and folded her arms into her sleeves to sternly glare at Shina, who placed the device in her pocket and replied "Well you could've said something earlier…"

"It's important I didn't. I want to ask you one thing…Are you absolutely certain you wish to go through with this?" Auris closed her eyes and awaited a response, but Shina smiled and quickly replied "Mom, I have to do this. Don't you want to be free of Gravitus?" Auris was silent, so Shina kept going on with her hands held out.

"If I do this, we'll be free. You, me, Kairi, and everyone else too…!" Auris peered at Shina just enough to see the determination on her face and thus said "You have thought this through all day…There's nothing I can say to sway you. But even so, do you believe this will be as easy as it sounds?"

"Even if it's not, I have to try. I mean…the Elemental Overlord was the legendary hero who never lost to the darkness!" "Yes…Yes he was…" Auris murmured in the face of Shina's optimism, and after a pause the mother pulled from her right sleeve two things that she laid out in front of Shina in the palm of her hand. One thing was a small stone with a couple wings folded against a holy sword etched onto it, and the other was a piece of paper folded neatly and wrapped by a small string.

"Take these with you." Shina focused on the stone in particular and while pointing down at it said in a surprised tone "T-That's an Aurian Drive. You're giving me a second one?"

"Normally Aurians wouldn't get more than one…But I feel you might need this. The note below it is something I only want you to read if things with the Elemental Overlord don't work out. I wish for you to trust me on this…" Shina considered things for a little and then accepted the gift, putting the note in her pocket and placing the Drive stone on the bracelet on her right arm, connecting it close to a stone with a series of guns etched onto it.

"Thank you mom. But you didn't have to do this, really…I-I'm a big girl, I can handle myself." Shina's chuckle afterwards was answered by Auris telling her "I've seen you grow for sixteen years…I can even remember the very first day I coddled you in my arms, and you looked into my eyes and smiled the brightest smile…You shone like the brightest sun, hence why you have your name…But I know I cannot coddle you forever Shina. You have to be allowed to become an adult someday and make your own decisions." As Auris glanced away and appeared melancholy, Shina leaned forward and she shut one eye while putting a finger before her tilted head.

"But I won't ever leave ya behind mom…You and sis are the most precious things in the world to me." Auris chuckled a bit at that, her body quivering from her laughter before she looked her daughter straight in the eyes and said "Then I hope that carries you through your journey. I shouldn't hold you back anymore…" Shina erected herself back into place and folded her arms behind her back.

"Thank ya mom. Just look forward to freedom!" She then reached into her pocket and pulled out the device, though before she pressed down on it she widened her eyes and commented "Oh, and please take really good care of Kairi while I'm gone! Alright, take care mom!" Shina then enthusiastically pressed down on the device, and all of a sudden she was captured in a time-space light warp and taken away.

Auris stood there in place, silent as could be. She grabbed onto her right arm and with eyes shut she saw visions of the future, watching as Shina was crying tears of blood. "Damn it all to hell…!" She grumbled while gripping her arm so tightly that her fingernails dug into her skin and drew blood. But when she pulled her hand away the wounds healed up, all without her reacting to the pain going through her nerves. There was nothing she could do now, and that was a greater pain than any physical blow…

Meanwhile, back at the Pyramid, Gabriel could be seen standing outside it looking at a holographic screen, which showed a man with black dreadlock hair standing in a spaceship. "Shina Aurora has used the device…Just like you asked me to, Lord Gravitus…" Gabriel's hesitation made Gravitus crack a grin and let out a subdued "Gooooood…"

"You did good, Gabriel. Hahaha, thanks to you, the road to my existence being secured begins with this moment..." Gravitus' remark made Gabriel grit his teeth and exclaimed "Damn you to hell…What do you mean by that?!"

"Hahaha! What would it matter if I told you…? You can't do ANYTHING to stop it now! So why don't you be a good little watchdog and head back into the temple now? Run along boy…" Gravitus wasn't surprised when Gabriel covered his fist in aura and destroyed the projector while letting out a frustrated howl, some of the metal embedding in his knuckles. As he pulled back on his fist, he considered the pain in his body an unworthy enough punishment for what he just did. "I'm sorry Shina…As someone you trust…I have failed you…"

 _Next Time: The Mushroom Kingdom_


	6. Chapter 6

**Shina Aurora Final Chapter: Legacy of the Overlord**

The warp through time and space took only an instant, depositing Shina in a grassy field far, far away from her home. The warp dizzied Shina a little, with her upper body swaying back and forth along with her arms feeling limp as noodles. She was unable to keep balance and falls flat on her back, her eyes spinning a little until she shakes the feeling off. Then, she looked towards the bright blue sky and found herself with a smile on her face.

"Well…t-that was an experience…" Shina raised her head up and then the rest of her body so she could perfectly stand upright. She then glanced at the device and saw that the glow was gone, and with a couple blinks she didn't know what to make of that. So with a smile she put it away and observed her surroundings. The first thing that caught her attention was, surprising, the ground she'd fallen on.

"Is this grass? It's just like in my textbooks…" She kneels down to feel the damp grass between her fingers, it's moist and rigid feeling reminding her of a sponge. She let out a hum of joy and swung her head around slowly before suddenly stopping, realizing what she was doing.

"Focus Shina, focus…" She then stood up and continued looking around for any signs of life, though once more found herself curious about her environment. "Like Earth, the skies are blue, the grass is green, and the hills have eyes…Did I even leav-" Realizing what she let slip, Shina double-checks that last observation. Indeed, the hump shaped hills in the distance had a pair of black dotted eyes on them and always seemed to be staring at something. Shina laid a hand on her chin and stared blankly at the hills.

"Something's…oddly familiar about those hills." As she blinked, one of the hills did the same, causing her to swing her arms out and flinch in surprise.

"What a freaky alien planet…" Slowly looking away from those creepy hills, Shina saw a town out in the distance.

"Guess I can find out about the Elemental Overlord there…" She then kicked her feet off the ground and took flight over to that town, not even considering the possibility that this would freak anyone out.

After a bit of flight, Shina falls down into the center of town and puts her hands behind back, looking around and seeing a few more intriguing sights. There were dozens of houses with spotted mushroom roofs, and denizens with heads similar to those very roofs. These people were half as tall as Shina with diminutive hands and feet and beady little eyes, though all of them were rather dumbfounded by this tall girl suddenly showing up. She folded her arms under her chest and squinted at the strange little people.

"Eh…? You aren't humans…" She murmured while the little men freaked out in front of her, some of them screaming in grating voices as they swung their arms into the air and ran around. "It's an alien invader! A tall buxom alien invader! Run around until Mario notices we're in trouble!" One of the men exclaims.

"B-But Mario's out stopping Bowser again!"

"What, again?! It's only been three months since the last attempt, hasn't that brute ever heard of down time?!"

"Of course not!"

"Well then what are we going to do?!"

"W-We could always scream for Luigi!"

Shina ends up getting really close to the two bickering mushroom men and kneels down, a hand on her chin as she hums in observation of their appearances and behavior without them realizing she was close by. Politely she then raised a hand up and asked "Ummm, you guys aren't referring to the Mario Bros. perchance, are you?" The two Toads casually turned to face Shina to respond to her simultaneously.

"Of course we are! They're the Mushroom Kingdom's famous heroes!" Their faces then froze up in shock as they realized who they were talking to, and after a sharp leap back into the air they quivered like a massage chair set on high with their mouths left agape. Shina simply tilted her head as the two mushroom men ran back and forth and eventually collapsed unconscious upon ramming into each other.

"Well this is weird…Mario and Luigi are fictional characters." Shina stands upright and with a grin on her face goes on to say "I mean, it doesn't…add…up…" A quick recollection of everything she had seen so far points to the contrary, but instead of freaking out Shina gripped her elbows tightly while the arms were still folded and her expression lit up like she was experiencing joy for the first time all over again.

She wildly swung her head around and checked the environment, her cheeks slowly puffing out as the excitement built within her mind. It was almost intoxicating how surreal this felt to be in this world that she had only imagine to be fantasy, but with a broad swing of her arms out she pulled her head back and exclaimed with tears welling in her eyes "I'M IN THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM!" This was followed by the loudest squeal imaginable, and all the birds in the immediate area flew away.

Now that she had grasped WHERE she was, Shina couldn't control her curiosity and she began sprinting across this humble town, kicking up trails of dust as she looked at everything she could. "This is the sewer pipe from Paper Mario! That's the doctor's office from Bowser's Inside Story! There's a Toad item house! And the Dojo! Merlon's place! Club64foreverforest'sentranceandeventhattuna!" Shina stops for a moment at the docks, pointing at the light blue sea mammal in the water, who stares up at her with his puzzled beady eyes.

"Actually miss, I am a wha-aaaand she's gone…" His bubbly voice is left in exasperation as Shina sprints to the utmost northern end of town and slides knee first across the ground, swinging her hands high into the air and with her face adorned with absolute bliss she was crying tears of joy and panting, low on breath.

"A-And finally…Princess…Peach's…CASTLE!" The glorious castle stood intact beyond the door marked with a door, and after a little bit Shina laid her hands on the ground and let her tears drop while she giggled in glee. All the while, a Toad and two of his freaked out children stared at her, with the big Toad raising a brow.

"Hey! You're scaring the children! Cut it out you freaky dink outsider!" That remark briefly snapped Shina out of her bliss with widened eyes, and she quickly stumbled back onto her feet and turned around to the family of Toads with a smile on her face, but accidentally shocking them with her height.

"Holy carp you're a giant! Children, get to your mother and secure the bunker! I'll hold this giant off!" The Toad scooted his children away and then pumped his fist into the air, with Shina raising both of her arms up and wagging the hands out to frantically state "W-Wait sir! T-There's been a big misundersta-" it was too late though as the Toad raised a glorious battle cry and then rammed himself right into Shina's legs, bouncing right off them and falling flat onto his back.

"-nding…" Shina awkwardly glanced down at the fallen Toad and then kneeled down, holding a hand out with a grin on her face as he awakened. When the Toad had lifted his head up enough to see her, his vision was blurred but he could tell that her intentions were honest.

"Oi…You're a gentle giant…Like the Princess…" Shina giggled in response and thanked him for the compliment before grabbing onto his hand. But when contact is made like that there's a plushy feeling in the Toad's arm, causing Shina to pause and gently pinch it a couple more times to feel the sensation again, much to the Toad's puzzlement.

"Ummm…miss…?" Shina lifts her head up and her eyes focus on the cap of the Toad, and after a few seconds of some admittedly bad but curious thoughts she cracked a wide smile that sent a shiver down the Toad's…spine?

"I know this is kind of sudden but….Can I touch your cap?!" Shina's eyes lit up suddenly with joyous curiosity, and Toad was regretting the compliment he just gave as he gulped a little. Shina slowly was letting her joy at the situation get the better of her judgment as she began to eerily raise her hand towards the Toad's head, a little drool slipping through the side of her mouth while the Toad closed his eyes and couldn't pull himself free from her grip.

Inches away from the cap, Shina was only stopped from finishing when she thought to herself _"I wish Kairi could be here to see this…"_ and that refocused her mind and snapped her out of the joyous trance she was in. She stared blankly at the frightened Toad and the two children who didn't know what to do, glancing aside and muttering "What are you doing Shina…?" before helping the Toad onto his feet without another word, much to his surprise.

Placing her hands behind her back, Shina then glanced down at the Toad and said "S-Sorry for that…I ain't used to this kind of thing." The Toad rubbed his hand and responded "Eh, you know what? I've seen weirder…B-But just for safety's sake I'm going to…Errr, go home." After a couple cautious steps while Shina looked at him with a regretting stare, the Toad grabbed his children by their tiny arms and fled the scene while Shina held a hand up ready to say something.

After a snap of her fingers Shina bit her lower lip and said "Not a good first impression…" followed by her looking up and watching as all the other Toads in the immediate vicinity were cautiously frozen in place. She tried to step towards them, but they stepped back appropriately away from her all at once. So if approaching them wasn't going to work, Shina laid a hand against her chest and tried another option.

"Excuse me! S-Sorry for scaring all of you, but…have any of you guys heard of a person called the Elemental Overlord?! I'm trying to find him!" Putting her utmost politeness into her speech, Shina waited a response from even one of the Toads. Eventually one of them stepped forth from the rest of the crowd and exclaimed "Oh come on! We just got through an alien bothering us about that guy a year ago! HE'S DEAD, STOP CAUSING US GRIEF OVER A DEAD GUY!"

Shina at first thought she was being misled, and blinked blankly in confusion. The Toad noticed this and let out a grumble as he rubbed his forehead, followed by him walking over to Shina and telling her bluntly "Look girl, you see that statue?" Shina's gaze is guided by the Toad gesturing behind him, and she sees a bronze statue in the center of town that went unnoticed before. So she chose to head on over to that with the Toad following close behind, him waving his arms down to assure the others everything is ok for now.

At the front of the statue, Shina looks up and sees a boy being depicted. More importantly, a plate at the bottom of the statue revealed that this boy was the Elemental Overlord, though since this was erected as a memorial…

"…This can't be right…Naaaah, t-this is just a joke…" Shina nonchalantly shook her head and turned away from what she saw, but the Toad bluntly said to her "I don't know where you came from, but here we don't make statues of dead people for jokes." Shina put her arms behind her back again and glanced at the statue and then the Toad, then back and forth a couple more times until the Toad starts tapping his foot impatiently.

"B-But I was told he's here…!"

"Then you must have been lied to." It didn't take much for Shina to think about that and firmly glare at the Toad.

"No, no that really can't be it…" She was a little impatient but kept a cool head, thinking of something else she could ask as she glanced at the tablet and caught the name of the Elemental Overlord.

"Ummm…Who knew the deceased…Alex Whiter is it?"

"…Sigh…I don't know what good it'll do but…The boy hanged around with Mario and Luigi a lot. There was also that plant creature, and also-" "There was I, ohohoho!" Shina and the Toad looked to the side and saw a short old man with liver spots and swirly glasses, complete with a lab coat and a stub of white hair that looked like he was topped with whipped cream.

"Oh, it's you. You can take over…I'm going to go home and…rethink my life…" The Toad let out an exasperated sigh and then scrammed as Shina observed him for a moment, looking back at the old man as he approached her with a curious look on his face.

"You must be a human. Ohohoho, I was wondering what the heart-stopping hubbub was all about. What brings you here?" The professor extended his hand for greeting, and Shina smiles brightly with her eyes glistening and is about ready to geek out some more until she quickly and repeatedly slaps the sides of her face and lets out a light grunt every time.

"Ohohoho, you are a kooky one." Shina hovers her hands away from her face and with an awkward grin she murmured "S-Sorry Mr. Professor E. Gadd, I'm just really, REALLY not used to this…" Spoken with exasperation Shina rubs the back of her head and grins innocently.

"No need to apologize lass, though I'm surprised my reputation proceeds me…"

"Well, you are a video game character where I come from, so it's no surprise." Realizing how casually she let that slip, Shina slapped the front of her mouth one hand at a time, but shockingly E. Gadd let out a jolly guffaw with a hand laid on his chest.

"My my, yet another one…This brings back memories."

"Wait…h-huh?" Shina peeled her hands away slowly and tilted her head, feeling very dumbfounded while the professor cracked a smile.

"Tell me lass, what's your name?" Shina perked up and laid a fist against her chest, saying with the utmost politeness and pride "My name is Shina Aurora…An Aurian, from Earth!" and she was clearly trying to emulate a certain Saiyan's voice, which led to her giggling a bit afterwards.

"From Earth, as I suspected…Ohohoho, well it's a pleasure to meet you then, Ms. Aurora. So then, what brings you to our fair kingdom?" With the chance to take things seriously, Shina clenched her fists in front of her chest and said with her eyes widened in fascination "U-Umm…Do you know about the Elemental Overlord? I'm trying to find him, it's REALLY important I do…" E. Gadd paused, nudging his glasses while letting out a tired sigh.

"It's true what that Toad said that he is deceased…" Shina once more shook her head and then leaned forward, desperately looking into the professor's eyes and exclaiming "Please professor! The person who told me to come here said he's alive!" E. Gadd's little old heart stopped for a moment from Shina's sudden outburst, but he was more focused on the frown slowly growing on the girl's face.

"…Let me tell you a brief story, Ms. Aurora." E. Gadd then looked to the statue of Alex Whiter while Shina stood upright and patiently listened, her eyelids sagging in worry that her efforts were being wasted.

"Two years ago, I sent Mario to Earth to pick up an eleven-year old boy named Alex Whiter. It was all to fulfill the legacy the Elemental Overlord left behind on his tablet…Mario, Alex, and six others traveled the Mushroom Kingdom and found the stones necessary to unlock the temple housing the Overlord's powers. After a fatal encounter with the reborn Dark King, Alex became the Elemental Overlord…"

"But fate transpired against him, and the witch Cackletta created a dark clone based on the boy's appearance and powers. In stopping that dark clone, Alex Whiter himself perished…"

Shina let out a gasp of disbelief, but then the realization crept up her back and made her feel a little ill. _"It can't be…He can't really be dead…Gabriel had to have known he was dead…"_ As these venomous thoughts filled Shina's mind and left her vision blurring from stress, E. Gadd turned around and saw her looking a little wobbly at the knees.

"However…" He quickly noted with a smile on his face that snapped Shina out of her venomous trance and caused her to look down as the professor explained "It's rather convenient that your friend would say he's alive, cause it confirms a suspicion I had. Please, if you would follow me…" E. Gadd then began to walk to the south part of Toad Town, and while clenching her fists to cling to what little hope there could still be Shina felt her heart pounding against her chest and followed the man to his laboratory, where he took her downstairs, though she did have to duck a bit from how short the ceiling was along the way.

Once at the lab, E. Gadd brightened the room with a flick of a switch and walked to his table to sit down on his comfy chair. He then pulled out an odd radar that could be identified as his creation because of the white metal at the top shaped like his hair.

"A year ago, there was an incident with an odd alien…During that time, Alex's self-created clone appeared and stopped the alien, but then vanished…However, the odd thing is that a device was stolen from my lab, a portable transporting portal making thingamajig. The clone could move around during the alien's activities, but I doubt he would've left without saying goodbye…It's a very big stretch, but Alex Whiter is the only other person who could've snuck into my lab and stolen the device." E. Gadd then hands the device over to Shina, showing a picture taken of the scene a year ago where there was a blur of energies and some particles floating in the air.

"Tachyons and traces of elemental energy…Had you not mentioned your friend's observation, I would've brushed what I saw off as hogwash, but of course that would've been very not-scientisty of me, ohohoho." Shina didn't really hear most of that, as all that filtered through her mind was the scant possibility that the person she was looking for was alive. The toxic thoughts were flushed away, replaced entirely with a renewed hope as her smile slowly grew wide again.

" _Sis, this isn't over yet…I still have a chance to make this right!"_ Shina then lifted her head up and exclaimed his name much to his shock, nearly resulting in him falling off the chair as she says "Thank you for this! I really, REALLY can't thank you enough…But now I have to find this Alex Whiter person!" Shina leaned forward and bravely kissed E. Gadd's wrinkly cheek, pulling back and surprising even herself for that action as she blushed and laid a hand on the side of her face.

"Wow, you really do feel real…" Her mind was still spinning from being in a video game world, but she was steadily trying to get used to it even if all her other thoughts got in the way. E. Gadd chuckled and replied while rubbing his now warm cheek "If you don't mind an old man poking his nose in…Are you sure you want to try and chase a ghost?"

Shina paused for a moment and then glanced aside with her eyelids halfway shut and a warm smile on her face. She gently laid the device onto the table and said "Yeah…I have no other choice. For my sister Kairi, my mother Auris…Everyone's smiles, hopes and dreams, I need to find Alex Whiter so he can ensure the future of all those things precious to me."

" _Auris, huh…? I knew there was something familiar about your presence…"_ A voice both calm and wise echoed in the ears of the two in the lab as a pillar of starry light suddenly appeared in the room, bringing forth a holy breeze that fluttered Shina's hair around while she stared in awe, watching as a brown wooden doll with a blue cape descended into the room. The pillar stayed around the doll as he opened his lifeless eyes and looked up at Shina.

"Oh…MY god! You're GENO!" Shina's outburst caught him entirely off guard, and he pulled back on his body a bit with eyes as wide as he could manage in his current state.

"…Yep, definitely her daughter…" Said Geno while watching as Shina holds her hands against the sides of her blushing face and looked quite overjoyed for a few seconds. Then she snapped out of the trance and after letting out an embarrassed cough said "U-Umm sorry…Mr. Geno, I'm not doing this on purpose, I swear!"

The doll smiled and nodded his head understandingly, then glanced around the girl to say to E. Gadd "Forgive me my intrusion professor, but I feel it necessary to assist this girl with her task."

"No big deal, ohohoho! At least you didn't break a hole in my roof. Go on, go on…" E. Gadd waved his hand out and then turned around to show he wouldn't be part of the conversation.

"Yes, well…Shina Aurora is your name, correct?" Geno inquired with a fist raised to his mouth after he coughed. Shina widened her eyes a bit and pointed to herself, saying in a relaxed tone "Y-Yeah…? You said you knew my mom, right…?"

"In a sense, she was my creator. To think that she was able to live after all this time…" Geno was fascinated by the news, but did not push for more information as Shina's predicament was more pressing in his mind.

"She's alive but suffering, and so is my little sis and all of my people…I-If you were listening in this whole time, then does that mean-" "I know where Alex Whiter is? Yes…I have known all this time, but have chosen to respect his wishes for secrecy…" Geno closed his eyelids as he calmly explained himself, followed by Shina laying a hand on her chin and thinking a bit about that.

"He…wants to keep his location a secret? M-Maybe it's not a good idea to invade his privacy, hehehe…" Shina tapped her pointer fingers together while smiling awkwardly, but Geno replied "I considered that, but…since Alpha and Gemini already found him, it's almost moot…"

"Who?"

"You'll likely meet them when you get there, but I'd say try not to set Alpha's suspicions off. If you wish to save your people, then the option is available for you to see Alex. All you have to do…is take my hand." Geno held his right hand out, his joints clattering with his movements.

There was no hesitation on Shina's mind, she nodded her head and said "If nothing else, he could be willing to listen. I HAVE to try, I HAVE to. So please Mr. Geno, take me to his location and I'll handle things from there!" She then held her hand out to grab Geno's own, and the doll nodded his head happily.

"Then we'll go…Professor, I wish for you-"

"To not say a word of this to the others? Ohohoho, I suppose we all have our secrets…I wish you the best of luck, Ms. Aurora." Shina looked over her shoulder at E. Gadd with a surprised look in her eyes.

"Hehe, don't worry Professor! It'll all work out, and when it does I'll come back and tell ya!" Shina then looked back at Geno, ready to go meet the Elemental Overlord as her heart was still racing, but this time out of sheer anticipation. She didn't know what the person would be like, or what they'd look like now…But as Geno carried her away through the expanding pillar of light, Shina knew that she'd have to try her hardest to make this right…

 **SHINA AURORA CHAPTER FINISH**

 _Next Time: Together_


	7. Chapter 7

**United Chapter 1: Alex and Shina**

Thanks to Geno's powers, Shina is brought down in the center of a wasteland between some mountains, and Geno keeps the pillar of light up as the girl walks out of it and scans the environment for anything noticeable. In confusion and with a hand held against her forehead, Shina stares directly towards a base wedged in between a couple of mountains.

"What's that?"

"It's where Alex is located. I think it's fair to warn you though that you'll probably encounter a little resistance…" Geno puts his arms into his cloak and closes his eyes while Shina glances at him over her shoulder.

"Any tips?" She asked with a smile.

"Considering what you are…Just use your powers for defense if necessary. Are you worried?" Shina glances aside and lets out a prolonged hum, leading Geno to open his eyes and ask "Want me to come with just to be safe?"

"No that's fine, thanks for bringing me this far Mr. Geno." Said while she folded her arms behind her back and grinned.

"Well, I'll be keeping an eye on things just in case you need vouching for…I hope all goes well." After that, Geno looked up and noticed Shina scratching the side of her face with a blush in her cheeks, prompting him to ask "Something up?"

"Ummm…H-How do I put this…Oh gosh I never thought I'd get this chance, b-but…" Shina clamps her hands in front of her chest tightly and asked "C-Can I please get your autograph Mr. Geno?! YouwerealwaysoneofmyfavoriteMariocharactersandIreallyreallyREALLYwantedyouinSmashand-" While Shina stopped and caught her breath, Geno was a little taken aback and yet tried to smile even if his body made it difficult. Then he chuckled a little as Shina smiled his way.

"Unfortunately I believe neither of us have a pen or paper to work with. Perhaps another time…" Shina's sagging expression was accompanied by a fittingly disappointed sigh, though it didn't take long for her to perk up and say "Well, alright. I'll hold ya to that. Now, I'm off to meet this Alex Whiter person! Thanks again!"

She turned around and sprinted off, only turning back to wave goodbye to Geno, who met her thanks with a "You're welcome" before he carried himself back to Star Haven via the pillar of light. Shina kept sprinting along the wasteland with her arms held out behind her, her mind still racing with anticipation over meeting the Elemental Overlord. From the statue she saw combined with the history books she read, Shina closed her eyes and imagined the person wearing shining silver armor with far reaching angelic wings, riding an elephant sized Pegasus with flaming wings while he held his six foot long katana into the air.

Shina starts drooling a little but then ends up ramming face first into the steel doors at the entrance of the base, recoiling onto her rear while letting out a blunt grunt of pain. Sirens immediately go off, warning Shina to stay where she is very loudly, but she's too busy rubbing her forehead and let out multiple cries of "owie" to notice at first. It's only when she gets on her feet and finishes chuckling over her daydreaming that she acknowledges it.

"Oh…I set off the alarms…Well, it's Mario's world, what's the worst that can happen?" Shina nonchalantly hums a theme from this world while swaying her body forward and backwards until the doors open up and three Shy Guys wearing spy tuxedos come running out, surrounding her and pulling out tiny laser pistols as the sirens die down.

"Freeze! Put your hands in the air!" With that said in their species' normally odd tone of voice, Shina ended up freezing in place with her waist thrust out, not because she was asked to. Glancing at all the Shy Guys, she noted the absurdity of this situation and her cheeks slowly started puffing out as she calmly raised her hands above her head, though they twitched along the way as she wanted to do something else with them.

"I can't believe it, it worked…!" Another Shy Guy joyously proclaimed, though while they were celebrating their supposed success Shina's cheeks had puffed up so much that her eyes began watering, and unable to contain herself she suddenly swung her body forward with her arms held against her gut whilst bursting into uncontrollable laughter. The Shy Guys were left looking at each other in confusion.

"I-Is this some alien defensive measure…?"

"Hurry and fire before we're infected!" The blunt Shy Guy quickly shot laser blasts at Shina along with his comrades, but it only served to increase her laughter as they touched her skin and made little shockwaves of energy without leaving scars. Shina collapsed onto the ground, curled up and resting on her side while her laughter kept going.

"D-Did you set it to tickle?! It's not working…!" One of the Shy Guys looks the pistol over, while Shina was getting to the point that she was starting to lose breath from going at it for too long.

"Haaaaa…haaaa….I-I can't…the tiny guns, t-the trench coats…On Shy Guys of all, pffftttt-Hahaha!" Shina started smacking her right hand against the ground while one of the Shy Guys raised their eyebrows in irritation.

"Hey, we're not being taken seriously! She thinks we're a buncha jokers!"

"M-Man, w-w-what a buncha…jokahssss…HAHAHAHA!" Shina was really trying her hardest to regain control of herself, but that was clearly failing. It was only the logic of dying from running out of air that made her slowly stop herself and then push herself back onto her feet while the Shy Guys kept their weapons locked. Shina made an odd smirk and looked at all of the Shy Guys with her hands raised.

"S-Sorry guys…snort…I'm really blowing this 'not causing trouble' thing, aren't I? Go ahead and arrest me now, or you can 'take me to your leader'" She said that last thing in an alien-like voice and almost started laughing again after. The Shy Guys were confused, but guided Shina into the base anyways. It took a few minutes of wandering the hallways, with Shina just blankly staring at all the Mario enemies wearing trench coats, but then she was brought to an enclosed room with light-blue steel walls and only a tiny vent for air. Shina was made to sit on a steel bench in the room, and she did so with a smile that disturbed the Shy Guys.

"Look, just…just don't cause any trouble while we get our Commander, ok?" Shina nodded her head as the Shy Guy wandered off and slammed the door shut. She was left to look around the jail cell and think to herself in annoyance _"Can't say I saw this coming, good going Shina…"_ she then let out a sigh and laid her hands atop her kneecaps while waiting for the so-called Commander to appear. Once more Shina went deep in thought and began to think about what the person could look like, thinking of the strongest enemies out there like Chain Chomps or a Hammer Bros.

" _Gemini, I don't know what she's doing here, but it's pretty bold of her to come right to our front doors…"_ The gruff voice behind the door snapped Shina away from her imagination and left her resting a hand on her chin as support while she awaited to see the person the voice belonged to. The name of the person they were with got her attention too.

"Gemini huh? Oooh, so mysterious…" But she would be in for a big surprise, as when the door opened up the "Commander" was revealed to be a slightly larger Goomba with golden mechanical arms and an eyepatch on his face. Behind him was the yellow shelled Koopa named Gemini, who Commander Alpha looked away from as he entered the jail cell and glanced at the puzzled Shina.

" _H-Huh? A…G-Goomba?"_ Was her immediate thought as she stared at him with shrunken pupils and her eyes widened. Alpha held his right arm out and bluntly said "You got some nerve entering our territory. Now where did you come from, and what are you after here?" Shina could not take the Goomba seriously, as she kept blinking as he spoke, more focused on his appearance than his voice. After a few seconds without a response from her Alpha scowled a bit.

"You had time to catch your breath, so start talking." Right as Alpha said that, Shina leaned forward and pinched his cheeks without thinking, leading to the Goomba widening his eyes as she starts pulling gently at his rubbery skin. Gemini was busy hiding a chuckle as Alpha turned to him and let out a sigh.

"Lieutenant, I think this is going to be one of those days…"

"Alpha, she did willingly arrest herself, I think she was looking for something here…"

"Well that's not at all suspicious…" As Alpha sarcastically noted that his skin was tugged a little farther, causing a jolt of pain through his body that made him grit his teeth and then suddenly clamp his hands down on top of Shina's arms while he bluntly said "Alright you, cut that out." Shina slowly let go of him and kept a cautious look on her face as she was allowed to pull herself back.

"S-Sorry, but it's just that, y-you're a Goomba…And yet you're a leader of an organization?"

"…Your point being?"

"One bop on the head and someone would succeed ya, hahaha…!" Shina swung her fist in front of her with a grin, and Alpha just shut his eye and mumbled to himself in a grouchy manner while Gemini just folded his arms together and leaned against side of the door.

"Can you at least tell us who you are?" He inquired kindly, whilst Alpha placed his arms behind his back and added "And just how you managed to find our hidden base." Shina, having had enough of her curiosity satiated for now, decided to not get into anymore trouble. With a relaxed expression she looked at Alpha and gathered her thoughts.

"M-My name is Shina Aurora, an Aurian, from Earth!" She mimicked the same tone as before and then followed up with "And Geno brought me here. I remember he said the Koopa's name, so…you must be Alpha?"

"…Hmph, now why exactly would Geno bring you here? I'm going to need more than that, kid." With Alpha's request, Shina widened her eyes and then stammered a little before reaching into her pocket to pull out the teleportation device, handing it over to the puzzled Goomba.

"…And how exactly is this supposed to prove your case?" Shina shook her head immediately after and told Alpha "Someone I know back on Earth gave that to me and told me that I could use it to find the Elemental Overlord. One thing led to another, I might have freaked out some Toads, a-and then here I am!"

"Finding the Elemental Overlord eh?" Alpha quietly said while he looked at the device, scanning it with the cybernetic eye behind his patch, saying once he's done "The technology is a little advanced, but it does what you claim…So I'm going to clear with you on something kid…" Alpha then paused to slowly crack a grin while brushing his left hand out so Gemini understood to leave, which he did after a nod of his.

"You're being honest with me, I like that, but here's the thing…" He raised his brows and followed up in a more menacing manner "You never considered the possibility that this was all a trap, did you?" Shina flinched a bit as the door slammed shut, and Alpha stepped back to give himself room to crack his knuckles.

"Yep…You walked right into this one kid. Lord Bowser is going to have a field day experimenting on you when he gets back, but I'll soften him up for you in the meantime." Alpha then popped the tops of his fingers off and a series of tools you'd find on a standard swiss army knife pop out, but while a little shaken Shina looks him dead in the eye and tightly gripped the edge of the bench she is on.

"I don't believe YOU are being honest with me, Mr. Alpha."

"Tough claim for a prisoner, but can you back it up…?" Shina stayed focused on Alpha after being brutally honest with him, raising her hand up and closing her eyelids even as the Goomba edged closer with the blades on her fingertips.

"Your aura hasn't changed at all since I got here…If you were truly malicious, it would've become darker and spikier." From Shina's perspective, she saw a smooth white aura around Alpha's body while everything else lied in darkness, and that aura budged as Alpha pulled back on his hand. Before she opened her eyes, Shina felt another aura slowly coming towards them from outside the room, and she glanced that way and widened her eyes upon feeling it's power.

"Well…Suppose that surprise is out of the box. Guess I'll come clean, I just needed to do one more test to check if you could be trusted. Since I'm not damaged, you pass." While Shina let out a confused "Eh?" Alpha turned to the door and snapped his fingers.

"Alright, you can come in now. You're a little early though…" The door slid open at his command and behind it was the young boy Shina had been searching for, the Elemental Overlord Alex Whiter. Right now, he appears to have healed up a bit from his malnourished state, as his skin looks hydrated. He no longer has the cast on his arm or that cloak, showing his red t-shirt and blue jeans. Other than that, he looked the same as before, though from Shina's perspective she did not know that and was more shocked by just seeing him for the first time.

The two's glares locked together with a frozen look of shock, with Alex murmuring dryly "A-Another human…A-And she's a girl…?" while Shina's perception of what he would look like was shattered in a burst of disbelief and left her thinking with a blank look on her face _"He…He's younger than me…?"_ Alex looked straight at Alpha with a puzzled look in his eye a few seconds later.

"What's going on here Alpha?" He demanded to know, and with a grin Alpha stepped back and said "I'll let her explain. Just pretend I'm not here for now." Alex raised an eyebrow and then glanced back at Shina who was still blankly staring his way, though now she was tilting her head. Before he said anything, Alex felt rather odd staring at this girl. He couldn't describe the feeling beyond his stomach churning, and he clenched a fist against his chest while staring at her smiling face.

" _This feels…familiar…But why?"_ He then looked at her appearance once more, and from how tall and developed she was figured she was older than he was. "Alright lady, what's your deal?" He rudely asked while keeping a suspecting glare on her face. Shina lifted her head up and laid her hands on her knees, snapping out of whatever was on her mind.

"S-Sorry…I just wasn't expecting ya to be this young." She said with a nervous grin on her face. Alex slanted his brows and crossed his arms, tapping his foot on the ground while Shina sensed his unease and quickly said with a hand laid against her chest "A-Anyways…So you're Alex Whiter, right? My name is Shina Aurora, and I've come to this planet from my home on Earth to ask for your help." Alex widened his eyes a little and needless to say didn't expect that request.

"W-What?"

"I've read a lot about the original Elemental Overlord in our history books, I know how magnificent his power is, and that he was probably the strongest being in the universe! And right now, we could really, REALLY use that power…"

"We?"

"Uh-huh! My people, the Aurians, have been ruled by a tyrant by the name of Gravitus for the last two-thousand years. He kills all who oppose him, and uses any children my mother has to try and test the Neo Drive, an object of limitless power. And-"

"Wait, wait, hold on a second here, you're feeding me too much here and it's giving me a migraine…" Alex said while holding a hand out and rubbing his forehead with the other, though he didn't make it clear that Shina's overall appearance was a part of his irritation as well. With her mouth agape slightly as she nervously chuckled she replied "S-Sorry…"

Alex paused for a moment and took in a deep breath through his nostrils, thinking _"What is up with this strange girl…"_ as he released it. He then tapped his fingers on his arm before asking "Can you at least tell me what an Aurian is…?"

"Oh, sure!" Shina perked up and then wasted no time in weaving her hand through the air in front of her as it glowed sparkling white. The aura around her hand was released to create a small veil that lingered in front of her chest. All the while, she explained "Aurians are people that, well…can manipulate the aura in all things. People, objects, you name it. This white energy you see is my own aura, pretty cool huh?"

Alex glanced at the energy for a while and tried to feel it for himself, but when he did all he got was a sensation of familiarity from a moment he had forgotten for quite a while. He then looked at Shina's smiling face as she was anticipating his response, and for a moment the face he saw before him belonged to a woman he had fought when he was accidentally sent two-thousand years into the past. His eyes then widened and his teeth clenched together, with muscles tensing and his heart beating against his chest at a faster pace.

" _This person has the same energy as that woman. But…But that's impossible. That woman should be dead by now…Then again, she said that one day I would see her again, and if she knew I was from the present…"_ Alex glared Shina straight in the eyes as she looked puzzled, coming to the realization _"She's that woman's daughter…"_

"Hey, it's rude to keep a gal waiting Alex. You might want to say something…" Alpha said to grab Alex's attention, but still stunned by what he figured out he let out a stammering "W-Wha…?" with an agape mouth before he turned to look at Shina once more. Though now he didn't know if he should bring up what he was thinking of or not.

"Don't start on that Alpha, she's too old for me anyways…" Was the response he gave after letting out a tired sigh, though this inevitably causes Shina to let out a humored "Eeeeeeeh?" before laying some fingers against her lips and chuckling at him.

"You actually think I'm an adult? Whatever gave ya that idea…?" From the way she spoke, Alex couldn't tell if she was clueless or purposely pulling his leg.

"What, you aren't?" He inquired, and Shina's immediate response was "Of course not ya silly goose. I'm 16 years old." Needless to say, hearing that caused the strange sensation to well up in Alex's body once more, stronger than before. He once more clenched his hand against his chest, but was accompanied by a warmth in his cheeks and a little sweat.

" _What the hell…? Why am I feeling this again…?"_ As the cold sweat trickled down the sides of his face, Alex quickly tried to get things back on track by glancing aside and stating frantically "S-So you came to find me so I could stop this Gravitus person, is that it?"

"Yeah! With your help we can send his butt packing out of our city forever! So…" Shina held her hands together and bowed, continuing on to ask with her utmost politeness "Please please PLEASE could you help us out?" Before Alex could respond, Alpha had something to say to him.

"Well Alex, this sounds like a good chance to put your three months of training to good use. But I'll leave it up to you to decide…" Alpha holds his arms behind his back as Shina lifts her head up, where Alex looks at her and could just feel the anticipation and expectations on her mind at that very moment. Even after the initial surprise of his appearance, Shina saw him as the powerful and mighty Elemental Overlord…A sentiment Alex could never bring himself to share. As such, he closed his eyes and went into a state of deep thought.

" _Me…stopping a tyrant? …If that woman is still alive, then this Gravitus person must have defeated her. Sure I'm stronger than I was back then, but she never even used all of her power against me."_ Alex peeked out only to see the anticipation on Shina's smiling face once more, but this time he scowled a little. _"Stop looking at me like that god damn it…and quit putting all of your hopes into that expression of yours…"_

Her face, her personality and especially her wishes left Alex feeling flustered, and he once more glanced away from the girl to try and better concentrate. Gritting his teeth a little, he thought _"Damn it, but if I don't try, then how can I ever truly get away from this anger…? But if I fail, then it'll just leave these Aurians in ruins…Yeah, that sounds about right. I'll just screw this up if I go with her now…"_ Alex then looked back at Shina, took a deep breath, and readied his answer.

"I'm sorry Shina…But while I may have the original's powers, I don't have his strength. Placing your hopes in me stopping Gravitus is a risky gambit that I reckon would doom your people if I failed…" Shina's expression slowly slunk into one of confusion as she let out a cry of "W-What?" Alex groaned a little and glanced aside with his head hung, not wanting to see the sadness growing on her face. Alpha looked at Alex in turn, and him saying nothing ironically told the boy enough about what he's feeling.

"B-But you're the Elemental Overlord, the universe's-"

"Don't say that again please, that's just putting me on a pedestal I can never stand on. My best suggestion for stopping Gravitus is to train yourself up to get stronger than him. Maybe it might takes a few years, but-"

"I don't have a few years! I need to stop him NOW!" Shina suddenly exclaimed in tearful rage, causing Alex to look as her face was left fully distraught, and she began to pant while tears form on the sides of her eyes. Even as Alex stared at her for a while, he couldn't figure out at all what to say. Looking at Alpha still remaining quiet, he knew not to expect any help from him on this front either.

Suddenly though, Shina's head perked up, and with a nervous grin she reached for one of her pockets and pull out a piece of paper that was folded and wrapped by a string. "W-Wait a second…Mom said to look at this if this didn't work out. Y-Yeah…There's still a chance I can use this…!" She put Alex and Alpha out of her mind for the moment and frantically tugged the string off, unfurling the note and hanging it close to her face so she could read it over. Meanwhile, Alex turned around, ashamed of himself for what he said.

"Dearest daughter, if you chose to read this note, then that means Alex Whiter has rejected your request to stop Gravitus because he feels he's too weak…" Alex immediately turned around with a completely stunned look on his face while Shina continued to read "…but don't give up on him yet. He is still essential to helping you out with Plan B. There is an object of grand power that was sealed away in the deepest reaches of the universe called the 'Cosmos Drive'. It's power is even grander than that of the Neo Drive…With it, you can certainly stop Gravitus. If you are willing to take the risk, then that's the only option you have left…" Shina then looks back up at Alex with a smile slowly growing back on her face, and she began to wipe the tears away while Alex was still dumbfounded by how exact the contents of the note were.

"Hang on a second, how the hell…"

"I-I can't believe the Cosmos Drive is real! Our history books always labeled it a myth, but if mom said it's true, then it must be true! There's still a chance…THERE'S STILL A CHANCE!" Shina clenched the note tightly, her heart fluttering with excitement as she then looked to Alex and proclaimed "Alex, you can help me find it! Mom's got plenty of faith in ya to do it!"

"I-I…wait, huh, what?" Alex stood there, frozen and dumbfounded with a blank stare on his face as Shina held her hands before her chest and fluttered her eyelids excitedly, hoping he'd say yes. But with teeth grit Alex felt a lot off about this note. _"Is this what that woman meant when she said 'we'd meet again'? That I'd do so through her daughter…? And for what, to chase after a myth? Unbelievable…That she would try and force this on me, and her own daughter too…!"_

Shina kept waiting patiently with a smile on her face, Alpha was looking his way expecting an answer that was more satisfactory, and Alex looked around him and felt as though the walls were closing in tightly. With heart clenching against his chest in stress, Alex held a hand against it and leaned forward, grunting in annoyance before suddenly proclaiming "D-Damn it, I don't know…!" he then suddenly turned around and ran off, leaving Shina reaching her hand out and exclaiming in shock "Wait, what are you doing?!"

She was left with her hand held out and her mouth agape, clenching a hand against the front of her shirt while Alpha scratched the side of his head and let out a sigh, telling himself that he knew this would happen. Then he was left looking puzzled as Shina gets off the bench and prepares to sprint. Before she made it to the door, Alpha extended his right hand out and gently grabbed the back of her shirt.

"Hang on a second there kid. You don't have proper experience handling this." He said as she turned around and looked very desperate.

"B-But I didn't come this far just to…!"

"And I assure you it's not over yet. Just give me a few minutes to talk to Alex. Sit down and calm yourself, I can tell this day's been a rollercoaster for you." Alpha then let go of Shina and reluctantly she took in a deep breath, clenched a hand against her chest, and slowly sat herself back down on the bench. Alpha could see her heart racing through his robotic eye, and as he made his way out of the room he thought _"You're making a damn big mistake here Alex…"_

 _Next Time: Relating_


	8. Chapter 8

**United Final Chapter: A Grand Journey**

Having run off from Alpha and the strange girl, Alex made his way to the rooftop of the MSI base, where a cold breeze flowed through the afternoon lands. Though to him, the winds carried a nostalgic feeling that helped him relax and gather his thoughts. He closed his eyelids as the wind graced the presence of his body without his guidance, taking in a deep breath and letting out a tired sigh as he put his hands into his pockets.

"Figured I'd find you up here. Reminding yourself of home again, eh?" Alex was snapped out of his relaxation by Alpha's attempt at comfort, and he glanced over his shoulder to see him walking up the staircase with his metallic arms crossed behind his back.

"If you're going to tell me to go back, then save it. Can't I just stand here peacefully for a moment?" Alex bluntly told the Goomba as he stood his ground ten feet away.

"If I didn't say anything I wouldn't be me. You worried me a bit though with that sudden freak out Alex. Mind telling me what's going on?"

"…I think you can take a guess" Alex replied while turning ahead and closing his eyes.

"Heh, I'm no expert on human biology, but I was going to assume a confliction born of infatuation towards the girl and a simple cursing of your own weakness to help her." Alpha said with a humored grin on his face, though Alex glared back at him rather bluntly immediately after.

"It's got nothing to do with infatuation…I-I don't know how to describe this feeling that's plaguing my heart and soul" Alex then looked down at his beating chest and clamped his right hand around the part of his shirt closest to the heart, continuing on with "Looking at her, I get the feeling she has something that I'm missing…Something I'm not worthy of having."

"Ah, I think I get it now…It's not infatuation, what you're feeling is admiration." Alpha answered with a wise-cracking smirk, then extended his right hand out as Alex turned and dryly glanced his way.

"It may be presumptuous of me to say, but perhaps she reminds you a bit of your clone?" Alex's glance aside afterward gave a good enough answer, but even so the boy told Alpha "In some ways she does, but…" Alex grit his teeth a little and then let go of his shirt to swing his arm out to emphasize his next point.

"Even after I told her I was of no worth to her she didn't give up on her goal…She immediately tried another solution, and even when the note suggested to trust in someone who denied her once…She still looked at me, put on that bright smile, and gave me another chance."

"And you don't think you have any right to help her out…Cause one mistake would lead to a catastrophe." Alex bitterly bit his lower lip and mumbled in response to that "I-I just can't let HIM be right about me Alpha"

"Fair enough, but it certainly doesn't make you look any better to just run away from the issue at hand. You're lucky I stopped the girl from chasing after you, otherwise you'd be feeling pretty pressured right about now." Hearing that surprised Alex immensely, and with widened eyes he asked "S-She still wanted to find me…? After two rejections?" He glanced aside and thought back to the girl's smiling face, and once more the strange sensation entered his body.

"D-Damn it…Why does she care this much?!" In the face of Alex's frustration, Alpha gently chuckled, much to the boy's ire at first.

"Here you are getting upset and you don't even understand what drives her to go this far." Alpha cracked a grin while Alex just let out a puzzled "Huh?" followed by the Goomba gesturing his right hand out to the boy.

"You're not looking at the big picture right now Alex. She willingly left her home to come all this way out here. Clearly, whatever drives her to do this is more important than even her own life"

"More important than her own life, huh?" Alex thought upon those words as he slowly looked towards the sky, and the immediately thing that came to mind was _"Selflessness, optimism…Could she actually be the one and not Alpha? The 'light' that could burn away the 'darkness' that haunts my nightmares?"_

"Let me ask you just one thing Alex" Once Alpha grabbed Alex's attention towards him, he continued on to say with his eye shut "Do you trust that girl and everything she's said so far?" Hesitantly, the boy glanced aside with a bothered look on his face.

"It's not the girl I'm suspicious of…Rather the circumstances behind her being here, and especially that note"

"Judging by your reaction, I get the feeling you've somehow met the woman in question. Care to share your thoughts?" Alpha smiled in intrigue, while Alex slowly raised a hand to scratch the side of his head.

"She's the former wife of the original Overlord, and apparently immortal…After I got my powers, I went to the temple and I guess triggered the Gaia Temporis to send me back in time where she fought and defeated me effortlessly. So I really don't get why she chose me to help her daughter."

"Sounds to me like she's the kind of person who sees things that others don't."

"But my clone would've probably been a better choice to ask for help." Alex's words got Alpha to let out a gravely hum as he was left deep in thought, and Alex raised an eyebrow his way until the Goomba snapped his left fingers out in front of him.

"Look Alex, I'm going to be honest with you…You're going to have the face the fact that at some point or another, my ability to help train you is going to reach a wall. There's only so much I can teach you, even if you have made some progress over the last few months." Alex focused on Alpha attentively with a dry look on his face as he continued on to say "That being said, I also can't force you to just go help that girl out. That's ultimately your decision to make."

"However…! Let me just make a quick argument in favor of the idea…There's nothing better for training than first-hand experience, and as an Elemental Overlord you need all the experience you can get. The universe is a vast place, but that means there's plenty of planets out there that could use help…Over the course of helping that girl find that 'Cosmos Drive', you could try and save any planets that in danger along the way." Alex slowly raised his brows in regards to what Alpha was trying to do.

"You're doing that thing again Alpha."

"Heh, whatever do you mean…?" He replied with a sly smirk. Alex just closed his eyes and after a sigh remarked "Oh never mind" but as he had his eyes shut he examined Alpha's words carefully and thought about what to do next.

" _The wiser option would be to stay and continue training with Alpha…I wouldn't harm any other worlds if I stick to that. But, at the same time…"_ He's reminded of that girl's smile once more, which caused his body to nervously twinge against his will before he continued on with _"…If I just ignore this feeling, will I come to regret it for the rest of my life? Alpha can do enough to help improve my ability to fight, but can he really offer me the other half necessary to conquer this 'darkness'…the ability to be a better person?"_

" _With her I'd get the whole package…I'd fight evil to improve my ability to be the Elemental Overlord…And around her optimism and selflessness I'd be able to improve my ability to be Alex Whiter…And then after that…"_ Alex clenched his gloved fist tightly enough for the crinkling of the material to be heard by Alpha, and the Goomba smiled as the boy lifted his head up. A visage of his clone's face appeared in front of him, and Alex murmured "…I can be worthy of making things right with you."

"I haven't fully decided on leaving to help her yet, but I'm going to take your advice Alpha and go talk to her. Is that ok?" Alex firmly said, and Alpha just stood there and mentioned approvingly after a chuckle "Go right ahead Alex. I'll stick around here and…catch a bit of that peaceful breeze, if you don't mind."

Alex then dashed off back downstairs, while Alpha pressed a button on his arm that caused a small gravestone to rise up in front of him. Walking over to it, Alpha folded his arms behind his back, closed his eye, and said with a smirk "After all, it's how you handled me, eh Commander?"

Meanwhile, Alex made his way back to the cell Shina was at. The door was still open, and the girl was sitting on the bench her head hung over slightly and her hands resting on her kicking legs. The moment she sees Alex though she turns her head and with a frazzled look on her face she said "H-Hey…! You came back!" But then Alex realized something as his heart felt momentary shock, and that was that he didn't really know what to say to the girl.

" _M-Maybe I shouldn't have rushed here"_ He thought while turning his head away from the girl as she asked him "Soooo…Are you feeling alright? You surprised me when you ran off like that!" Alex then glanced at her as she leaned forward a bit and tilted her head.

"I-I'm fine…U-Ummm…Sooooo…" _"Crap, I really don't have much experience talking to other humans, let alone a girl"_ Alex looked at and away from Shina repeatedly until deciding to let out a deep gulp and slowly inch his way over to the bench, walking sideways until he's in front of the bench beside Shina. As she patiently waits, Alex looks away from her and then sits down, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall. He only gave her an occasional glance, but now that he was this close he was able to truly grasp how much bigger she was compared to him.

" _She said she's 16...? Only a two year difference, and yet she looks like an adult…Ugh, that's probably not making this any easier, so if I keep looking away…"_ While Alex was in a deep trance of thought, Shina lightly slapped a hand against the side of his face a few times and he reactively turned to face her, leading to that hand resting against his face complete with the cold feeling of her skin. As his cheeks turned a light shade of red and he focused on the hand, Shina pulled it away with a nervous grin on her face and said "S-Sorry…! I was worried you were daydreaming for a moment there!"

Alex quickly averted his gaze and told her carelessly "…Y-You could…try and make this a little easier for me" "E-Eh?!" She replied with no idea what he meant until she glanced down and saw how close the two were, assuming that the short distance between them was the source of his discomfort before she slowly nudged herself back on the bench until she was a couple feet away. She then cracked a smile, thinking that everything was alright, though Alex just let out a sigh and rubbed his forehead.

"Y-You know what, never mind…So, Shina's your name, right?"

"Yessir!"

"Hrmmm…C-Can you tell me something?"

"What's up?" She replied in a quick and chipper manner, leading Alex to look away from her for a moment so he can better concentrate on the subject at hand.

"What is it that drives you Shina…? Why would you go so far to try and stop this one man?" In contrast to what Alex had seen of her so far, Shina suddenly hung her head and put on a more subdued expression.

"W-Well…It's not that hard to answer really. It's because of my mother and my little sister Kairi…I want us all to be one big happy family, but if I don't stop Gravitus then…" Shina bites her lower lip and tightly grips the top of her pants, quivering as she didn't want to think about it. Alex, however, did not understand what she meant and thus against his better judgment chose to probe her for information.

"What? What is he going to do?" Embarrassingly, Shina lifted her head up and stared at Alex for a little before chuckling and telling him "O-Oh right, I never finished earlier did I? Ummm…How do I put this?" For a moment she laid a finger against her chin and tried to bring the words from her mind to her tongue.

"That Neo Drive I mentioned? It can only be used by people of my mother's bloodline. Gravitus knows this and keeps taking any children my mother has once their bodies and thus their auras are properly mature, testing them to see which one is worthy of the Neo Drive. I-I've felt my sister's potential, and once she turns 16 in two years time…I-I honestly believe Gravitus will be able to activate the Neo Drive, and then he'd be able to easily abuse it's power through her"

"…How could he even do that?"

"I-I don't really know, but I can't take any chances to find out" Shina then looked at Alex and with a half-baked smile asked him "I-I mean…Ya understand what I'm saying, right? I tried not to make this confusing."

"It's not hard to get it…He's a tyrant trying to abuse whatever power he can to lord over his people." As Alex spoke in a nonchalant manner, Shina looked at him with a rather shocked glare and asked "Y-You speak from experience?" Alex only grumbled afterwards and looked away, and Shina just pulled back and shook her hands out beside herself.

"S-Sorry…! I didn't mean to dredge up old memories…! U-Ummm…Oh, I got it! Since you asked me why I wanted to stop Gravitus, I'll ask you something myself!" Shina desperately tried to change the subject and clapped her hands once she got an idea, snapping Alex's attention her way as she smiled and asked "If you don't mind me asking, ummm…What drove you to become the Elemental Overlord?"

Alex held his hands together above his legs and with his eyes closed murmured "Like I could tell you if I don't know the answer myself…I mean, Mario came to me and explained the situation and I just left my planet without even thinking about it. Can't really blame me, I was eleven at the time"

"T-That young…?! But what about your parents? Surely they are wo-" Alex put on a grimacing scowl and looked away from Shina, and she stopped herself and turned her head while scratching the back of it embarrassingly.

" _Darn it Shina, you're doing a terrible job talking to him…You got to make this better, fast!"_ She swiftly turned back and then tried patting Alex on the back a couple times, finishing off with a rub while Alex froze his expression into one of wide-eyed surprise as the girl told him calmly "Sorry again for that slip of the tongue…And I'm really, REALLY sorry to hear your parents are dead."

"You don't have to be, but…t-thanks anyways" Though he said that, in his mind Alex thought with absolute shock _"God, look at how easy she makes that sound to say sorry to me, even for mistakes she couldn't have had any idea she would make."_

Alex glanced at Shina again as she was talking, but he was so focused on his own thoughts that he didn't understand a single thing coming out. What mattered was the smile she kept as she talked, how she was naturally just filled with happiness and joy with every motion and word she took and said. _"Her optimism and selflessness, her desire to have a happy family, her bold fight against a power-hungry tyrant…She's got similarities to me, but was born without any of the burdens of anger and death that I have…I was right about her, she is the 'light' I've sought out…She's the one person in this universe that can end this 'darkness' inside of me, perhaps for good."_

Without realizing he would be interrupting her, Alex suddenly sat upright and faced Shina, telling her bluntly "Shina, please hear me out for a moment."

"H-Huh? Sure thing Alex!" Shina sat there after a moment of surprise and laid her hands atop her legs with an innocent grin on her face, and Alex closed his eyes to ease the next part as he mentioned "There's a lot you don't know about me, and a lot I don't know about you…But if I don't help you after you've willingly come this far away from home for your family and people, then I deserve to burn forever. What I'm saying, basically, is that-"

Shina suddenly lunged at Alex and embraced him in a tight hug, her chest pressing against the front of his neck as he suddenly found some breath forced from his mouth. Alex was left feeling completely stiff by how swiftly this happened, only stuttering out quietly "H-Hey…!" as Shina squeezed him and exclaimed joyously "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! I could just KISS you for doing this for us!"

Alex suddenly widened his eyes and said while lifting his hands up and accidentally pushing on Shina's chest to put some distance between them "N-Now hold on a moment there…! There's no need to get that-" even as flustered as he was, he recognized the mounds of flesh on his palms and after a brief gaze at them his face turned even redder as he turned around. Even with his inexperience with others, he knew that was a big mistake.

Even then, Shina just chuckled and nonchalantly said "I guess I was getting a little too close there. I'm just REALLY excited and lost control of myself, hehehe!" Alex glanced back and forth a few times at her and the door before replying "Y-Yeah well…A-As I was trying to get at, w-we need to establish a few rules before we do anything else."

"Oh, alright then!" Shina stood still and patiently, giving Alex time to let the blush leave his face before he let out a cough and turned around, still not believing that he let that mistake happen. Closing his eyes he stated "First things first, no more sudden physical contact. That means no hugs, kisses, or breast…p-pushing." The red returned to his cheeks for a little bit while Shina chuckled, only for Alex to let out a cough a couple times to try and regain focus on the matter at hand.

"S-Second rule…No unnecessary questions. Either we say what we want to or we don't, that'll stop us from striking each other's nerves." Shina perked her head up and said "I can't make ya any promises, we need to get to know each other somehow."

"…Fine, but you have to absolutely, above all else, promise to follow this last rule." Alex firmly looked Shina in the eyes and handle a finger up before his chest, telling her with the utmost bluntness "I am not the original Overlord…I don't even a hold a candle to what type of person he was, so please don't make any comparisons to whatever you read about in those history books."

"Ok, I can do that, that's easy!" Shina responded surprisingly fast, and Alex glared at her and punctuated his point with "I'm taking this seriously here. You could at least do the same."

"Well I mean, I already knew you weren't going to be like him the moment I saw ya…So, all you really got to do is show me why mom put all this faith in ya, ok?" Shina said, with her looking around the room all the while. Alex blinked a few times and then pulled back, scratching the side of his head as he remarked "Then…that's all there is to it really. Only other thing I have to do is tell Alpha and we can head off."

Alex got off the bench and headed for the door, but with a hand laid on the edge of it he glanced back and said "You can go ahead and meet me out front, that's where we'll take off, if you're ok with that." Shina nodded her head, but as Alex sprinted off she closed her eyes and looked at his aura through that vision of hers. His aura was distorted and unable to maintain a stable form, with pitches of black shifting it's way through his body. Opening her eyes a little, she murmured "I'll get you to open up somehow Alex…And maybe I can help you just like you're helping me."

A few minutes later, after Alex has caught up with Alpha and told him what was happening, the Commander and Gemini followed the two to the outside of the base as the sun was starting to set. Shina happily folded her arms behind her back and turned around as Alex conversed with the other two.

"So you made your decision, huh Alex?" Gemini remarked with a bit of a smile on his face, to which Alex nodded his head to the both of them and replied quietly "It's for the best if I do. But it's not like I'm going to come back someday. We'll find this Cosmos Drive, stop Gravitus, and then I'll come back here…hopefully having improved as both an Elemental Overlord and as a person."

"Heh, you're underestimating the scope of the universe a bit there if you think it-" Alpha stops himself from ruining Alex's slight enthusiasm towards this goal, with a grin quickly moving on to say "…Honestly though, do you have a plan to head out into space?" Alex nodded his head confidently, and that was all Alpha needed to see.

"Alright then, well, don't be a stranger Alex, and good luck out there."

"Yeah, seriously, don't keep us waiting more than two years again, alright?" Gemini said while holding his right hand out, which Alex shook after a momentary smile, followed by him asking "Thanks for tolerating me for the last few months Gemini, and if you see Geno tell him thanks for bringing Shina over here."

"Will do" As Gemini pulled his hand away, both him and Alex looked to Alpha, but he just stood there and both said and did nothing. Alex gave him a slight nod before turning around and walking over to Shina.

"You ready to go?" He asked, and she glanced at him from the side and said nervously "Umm…We don't have a spaceship, how are we going to fly through space?" In response, Alex stepped in front of Shina while holding his arms out.

"Don't worry, I could figure this much out on my own." From his hands, Alex generated a giant sphere of wind around both himself and Shina, lifting them slightly off the ground. He then folded his arms together and said "With this we'll be able to breathe, and it'll contain both of us while we travel swiftly across space…As far as provisions go, I can make us any fruits, vegetables or nuts. And I believe that's all I have to say on the matter." He then looked back at Shina, who was staring with an agape mouth in fascination of what Alex created.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Shina then firmly looked at Alex and told him with a smile "I can't be unsure about this. For the sake of my people and family, we can't waste even a single second!"

"…Then we're off!" Alex said, hesitating from the girl's bright smile before he clenched his hands together tightly and commanded the sphere of air to push off the ground and rocket off towards space. As they watched them take off, Gemini glanced at Alpha and said gently "Pretty small farewell, huh Alpha?" The Goomba closed his eye and smirked in response.

"I've never been big on sentimentality. Besides, it's better this way." Even with what was said, Gemini just smiled and told him in a humored tone "Alright Commander, I'll let you get away with that. Still, I'm glad Alex made the right choice here."

"You and me both Gemini…you and me both." With that, Alpha and Gemini were left to their own devices again, free from the Elemental Overlord's influence on the world for now. However, as Alex and Shina flew high into the sky and breached the planet's atmosphere, they were unaware of someone watching their departure from afar that had other ideas of what was going on…

"So…the time has come for your journey to begin, is it? That Goomba made the wrong decision this time, but I suppose that leaves me no choice then but to get involved. No matter how many times this happens, I'll always know when to be here to witness it's beginning…and see it through to it's inevitable end. But ultimately, your path leads to death, Phoenix of Destruction. That's what I will witness, and not the destruction you bring to the one place I love in this grand universe…"

Whoever they were, they cracked a small but eerie smile that hides every devious intention on their mind. "Though really, this shall be a fun little venture…I will enjoy this thoroughly, so you better put on a grand show in the meantime, and that goes double for you, Ms. Aurora…Enjoy the false pretenses of hope you have now, for I have seen the outcome, and so have all of you…Viewers beyond that veil of computer glass. Fufufu…!" And with that, they simply vanished from sight via unknown means…

As the planet of Plit was left behind her, Shina pulled out the note her mother had given her and flipped open a part of it that she hadn't read to Alex. With a curious smile, the girl thought _"So our first clue is at the land of dragons, huh mother? No matter what that means for us, I will face the challenges ahead. What I'm fighting for..."_ the memories of her sister flooded through her mind as she held the note to her chest _"Means I cannot lose, no matter what!"_ With a fierce, determined face, Shina put the note away and looked forward to what lied ahead.

 **CLASH OF THE ELEMENTS PART 4 EX PROLOGUE…**

 **THE END**

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Thus begins the next tale of Clash of the Elements. I want to thank a lot of people who have so far been helping me reorganize how I write this story, and I do plan on going back at some point and fixing earlier parts but right now Alex and Shina's story is going to get all the attention it needs...Save for Phantasm Masquerade and another story I'll be needing to do on the side later.

So if it wasn't obvious, this story will play out like Part 4 did, with Alex and Shina going to different video game worlds on their way to finding the Cosmos Drive. I'm not going to reveal all the worlds they go to right now, but here's a basic guideline of how things will go:

Spyro the Dragon , Crash Bandicoot , Guilty Gear , BlazBlue (Two Stories) , Mega Man X (?) , ? (?) [Really site, can't allow the fucking greater than sign either? And multiple question marks piss you off?]

I'll need a few days to outline it, but when it's ready come back for the first story of Part 4 EX (Grumble grumble stupid site not allowing 4.5 to be the title) titled "Year of the Dragon"! Thanks again all of you, and please, review as much as you can, it really does help keep this going.


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